We can’t seem to help ourselves when it comes to screen time, adults, ourselves included, just love looking at screens. Now, for a lot of us, our jobs revolve around a fair amount of screen time, and for others, staring at a screen may be a way we wind down after a long day, but today, we’re talking about the negative side effects we could all be experiencing already or on our way to experiencing if we keep it up.
Physical Strains to Our Eyes and Body
If you’ve noticed that your eyes are getting a little weaker or maybe you’re experiencing headaches, neck aches, or any form of ache around those areas, there’s a good chance this is due to looking at screens. This can eventually lead to retina damage, blurred vision, posture issues, and stiffness.
Problems Sleeping
Studies have shown that the blue light from our devices suppresses the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin which in turn can make for a pretty sleepless night. And if you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night just to be awake for hours at the mercy of your smartphone, now you know why.
Increased Risk of Weight Gain and/or Obesity
Let’s face the facts, if you’re glued to your smartphone, you’re not physically doing a lot. In fact, you’re probably living a pretty sedentary life. See how the cards are stacking? It’s not uncommon for people that are glued to screens to pack on a few pounds here and there until it turns into even bigger issues.
Instant Gratification-itis
Okay, not the scientific or medical term for it, but every time we get a new “like” or “comment” or see a new post, it’s like a little hit of a drug or “brain candy” as some like to call it, though scientifically speaking this just means that the part of our brain in charge of dopamine is being turned on. From here, we crave it.
Impaired Socializing Skills
It’s easy to communicate online, in fact, we see it every day, people can so easily comment or message another person about otherwise difficult topics of conversation or even about mundane things that don’t matter in the big picture, but doing this leads to anti-social behaviors and the feeling of being withdrawn.
Lower Self-Esteem
This one is a bummer because if there’s one thing we’ve learned about constantly refreshing that Instagram or Facebook page, it’s that we are very much only getting the highlight reel from any given person. But when that’s all you see, it’s easy to be hard on yourself wondering why your life doesn’t look like that.