As human beings, we are all prone to getting distracted. Within the last 10-15 years, the level of distractions we have acquired is huge. We have so much information that we have access to from social media, streaming platforms, television, and video games. There are positive ways we can use these platforms and information. There are also negatives that come with them too. Some of those negatives are social isolation, obesity, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and even brain damage. In today’s article, I am going to teach about the negatives of screen time and ways that you can use it for good.
The Human Attention Span
Over the last 20 years, our attention span has become less and less. According to a study, the human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in the year 2000, to now 8 seconds. That is a shorter attention span than a goldfish. This is all due to our desire for constant stimulation. Having so much information available, and all of the social media platforms that allow us to scroll endlessly is causing our concentration epidemic. Having multiple tabs open, doing multiple projects at the same time, and bouncing back and forth between social media apps is destroying our abilities to be efficient at work, in our social life and at home.
The Rise In ADHD & Obesity In Children
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is a disorder when a child cannot keep his/her attention on certain tasks or subjects. This leads to a life of concentration issues, impulsiveness, and chronic hyperactivity. ADHD is not caused from too much screen time, but it has a negative effect on children that suffer from ADHD. Children with ADHD are more prone to excessive screen time due to the various things that they can be stimulated and fascinated by.
A study states that screen time is having a negative effect on children’s brains. ABC News reported that the University of Alberta found that by age five, children who had two or more hours of screen time each day were nearly eight times more likely to receive an ADHD diagnoses.
Children spending hours upon hours in their rooms playing video games & on social media has created bad eating habits. Kids are eating for boredom and stress from not winning a game or not getting enough likes on social media. This is creating another huge problem for children, eating disorders and obesity.
Data from an article on https://www.childrenandscreens.com/findings/obesity/ suggest that screen media exposure leads to obesity in children through three main mechanisms:
1. Increased eating while using screens, leading to greater calorie intake.
2. Seeing advertising for high calorie, low-nutrition food and beverages that alters children’s preferences
3. Disrupting sleep, may affect appetite related hormones, food choices, and more.
For the betterment of our next generation, it is a good idea to show them the importance of being active. Use social media to your advantage and find some healthy creative recipes that you can cook for your kids to help keep their diet clean. Find healthier snack alternatives to minimize the processed food intake. Create boundaries with their use of screens, but at first, it is always a good idea to start slow and over time, it will make a big difference.
Why Can Screen Time Be Bad For You?
Staring at a screen is not only bad for your mental health, but it also negatively effects your physical health. LED screens give off blue wavelengths (blue light) and in small doses can be good for alertness and reaction time. Blue light can have a negative effect on our eyes and frontal cortex. Scrolling on social media and playing video games stimulates dopamine (our reward system) in the brain. When dopamine is stimulated too much and too often, this can cause a shorter attention span.
Over time, if dopamine is stimulated too much this can lead to feelings of over stimulation. Feeling over stimulated can translate into social anxiety or general anxiety about small decisions or events. How does this happen? Let us say you are scrolling on social media in the bathroom, then you come into the living room to watch television for a bit, then you go play a video game for an hour or two. With so many different types of stimuli going on it can create a sense of overwhelm, fear, and anxiety. This is caused by your brain’s inability to process multiple different forms of stimuli.
Having a poor relationship with screen time can also disrupt your sleep. Our brain needs to be completely unstimulated at least 2 hours before bed to get quality sleep. This is because any blue light will cause you to be alert and this can keep your mind stimulated late into the night. Not getting enough sleep can lead to immune system dysfunction, stress, anxiety, and weight gain.
Since the pandemic, we have seen a rise in social isolation and this gives us more time on our phones to scroll. With this rise, we have seen an increase in Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency can be from a poor diet, but mostly it is from a lack of sunlight. Sunlight is our body’s main source of energy. Spending enough time in sunlight can help with better energy, sleep, and happiness. A study reported that just 15-30 minutes of mid-day sunlight showed an improved production of serotonin (our happiness hormone) in the body.
Depression and anxiety on the rise
In 2020, there was a 25% increase in depression, anxiety, and social isolation. From the stress and unpredictability of the pandemic, this led to people being isolated from the outside world. Examples would include working from home, communicating entirely online through email, text message, and social media. Isolation takes the beauty of being able to read emotional and societal cues. This is important for being able to hold quality conversations and have impactful relationships.
Social media & Cyberbullying
We all know about cyber bullying and its horrendous effects on the human brain, especially with kids being so vulnerable on social media with comparing themselves to models, celebrities, and other influential people. This gave kids with a troubled household the opportunity to channel their energy in an entirely different way. Through comments and direct messages, the level of bullying that can take place is endless. A study shows that in adolescents who reported cyberbullying were 11.5 percent more likely to have suicidal ideation. It is so important to govern our children’s mental health to make sure they grow up as authentic and pure as possible.
Screen Time Can Create a Sedentary Lifestyle
Spending hours on our screens can make time go by so fast, leaving you sedentary for way longer than your body should be. Sedentary lifestyles have shown to increase bad eating habits, such as eating too much or not eating enough. Fast food commercials, candy, sodas, and other junk foods can negatively affect our health. Eating these types of foods while stimulated by a screen has been shown to increase risk of diabetes, obesity, and other diseases.
The Rise of Instant Gratification
Instant gratification has become a bigger problem since the early 2000s due to the amount information and resources we have available to us. Instant gratification by definition is a term that refers to the temptation, and resulting tendency, to forego a future benefit in order to obtain a less rewarding but immediate benefit. How does this associate with screen time? We will forego the future benefit of keeping our house clean to instead scroll on social media. Instead of going home to cook a healthy meal, we instead will go through the drive thru at McDonalds.
How to Use Your Time More Wisely
Creating healthy boundaries is a great way of being more responsible with your screen time. For example, placing a certain amount of time that you are allowed on social media can help you to create time to reach other goals.
Have a Purpose For Your Screen Time
Having a purpose for your usage can also allow you to use your time on a device more responsibly. Such as using social media to brand your name or help market your business. Using a television only on the weekends with your spouse or loved one can be used as a reward for getting your other responsibilities done during the week. When we attach a purpose to something, we can create discipline around using it.
Spend Time Out In The Sun
Spending time out in the sunshine has many benefits on our overall health. These include better sleep cycles, increased Vitamin D levels, increased happiness, less stress, better skin, and the list goes on. Taking just 15-30 minutes a day to stand out in the sunshine can provide beneficial results.
Eliminate Unhealthy Snacking
Create healthy snacks for when you are spending an extended amount of time on a screen. For example making your own homemade granola, fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole food based bars. By cutting out processed unhealthy foods from your diet, you will see a dramatic shift in your energy, focus, and your mental health.
Invest In Tools To Enhance Your Screen Time
In today’s society, there are always new and innovative tools that come out to help us in every area of our life. With technology and smart phones being the center of our lives, there are so many options to choose from. Tools such as standing desks, blue light blocking glasses, blue light screen protectors, and much more. If you are interested, click the following links below to learn more about these products:
1. Ra-optics
Summary
Using technology is very normal and can be useful for building a substantial business, creating amazing relationships, and learn something new every day. There are negative repercussions to screen time that can really harm your overall health. By creating boundaries, a purpose, eliminating unhealthy snacking, and investing in the longevity of your health, you will be able to have a better experience in the end with your screen time.
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