Technological advances can both be a blessing and a curse. I grew up having to go through an operator just to make long-distance calls from Mindanao to my relatives in Luzon. We had to rewind Betamax tapes if we wanted to rewatch a movie. Some people reading this may be unable to relate to what I am saying, but let me tell you. Those were very inconvenient times compared to the luxury we have today of having access to communication, information, and entertainment with just one click. Billions of people use smartphones. It has become our lifeline. How do you feel about not having your phone with you for even just 5 minutes? 

During the pandemic, we relied heavily on gadgets for school, work, as well as, for respite. While I am grateful for the various digital devices we have now, I can also personally attest to the detrimental effects it has on one’s health through my own experience and the complaints that I have received in my clinic that turned out to be a result of too much screen time. 

During the pandemic, boundaries were obscured because everyone just somehow expected everyone to be online. There was a point in time when I was already getting palpitations, and I realized that it was due to the endless notifications from various applications on my smartphone. When I turned the notifications off and began to set a time schedule to establish boundaries regarding work and personal matters, the palpitations were gone!

During that time, a family member and a patient were constantly complaining of unexplained headaches. When I assessed their lifestyle factors, I found out that they have been binge-watching K-dramas every day since the lockdown. Oftentimes, they would stay up late. When they consciously set a time limit, guess what? The headaches were simply gone!

Are your smartphone, Smart TV, computer, tablet, video game console, or similar devices making you sick? I do not want to demonize these inventions. After all, they are awesome. You see, it is not their fault that we get eye strain, headache, neck pain, back pain, and all sorts of illnesses. It is our fault because we have abused the use of these devices by going overboard with our screen time. 

On November 27, 2023, an article by Khumukcham A Devi and Sudhakar K Singh examined the hazards of excessive screen time and its impact on physical health, mental health, and overall well-being.

They concluded that: “Excessive screen time can have significant negative impacts on both physical health and mental health. The sedentary nature of screen time can lead to eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, and back pain, while excessive screen time can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders.”

Watching shows on You Tube or OTT (Over the Top) services like Netflix can be a source of healthy entertainment. After all, we need to unwind, right? Furthermore, scrolling on social media may seem harmless because we need to connect with people. However, there is a thin line between using these platforms to accomplish a purpose and abusing screen time to the detriment of our overall health.

According to Stanford Lifestyle Medicine, research shows that the adult brain is negatively impacted with more than two hours a day of screen time outside work hours. An episode or two of your favorite show may be beneficial in helping you unwind but beyond that is already detrimental to one’s health, especially if it is habitual.

This gets more serious when a large prospective cohort study on the associations between recreational screen time and brain health in middle-aged and older adults was conducted by Chenjie Xu, PhD, and colleagues. There were a total of 407,792 participants who were free from dementia, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease at the time of enrollment between 2006 to 2010. After 12.6 years, 5227 were diagnosed with dementia, 6822 had stroke, and 2308 Parkinson’s disease cases were identified out of the 40,692 subsample of the total participants whose neuroimaging features were measured by magnetic resonance imaging or MRI in 2014. 

Their study concluded that watching TV for more than or equal to 5 hours a day was associated with higher risks of dementia, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease compared to TV viewing of more than zero to one hour a day. 

The brain has tissues known as the gray matter. It is crucial for daily human functioning, emotions, movement, and memory. The volume of gray matter naturally reduces as we age. Unfortunately, further deterioration is caused by excessive screen time, smartphone addiction, and internet gaming disorder, characterized by an uncontrollable urge to play video games. 

Excessive screen time can affect sleep and lead to chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance, obesity, and other musculoskeletal problems like back pain due to poor posture. Sleep deprivation can also lead to anxiety, depression, and mood disorders.

The good news is that we can take control of our screen time habits. It is an intentional effort on our part to decide to limit screen time and have other activities that will promote brain health and the volume of gray matter. Spend some time exercising or simply being physically active by walking and moving around. Schedule your snooze to get restorative sleep, and engage socially outside the internet. Take time to talk to your loved ones face to face as much as possible. Learn to cope with stress in other ways apart from escaping into the digital world. Appreciate music, prayers, and meditation, ar,t and books. 

It may seem harmless, but it is prudent to do something now and break free from being controlled by your smartphone and other devices. If you feel like you have an addiction and it has been affecting your health and productivity, it is best to seek the help of a psychologist or psychiatrist for proper assessment and management.

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