From the myriads of social media content that can cause low self-esteem to the explicit yoga classes you enjoy in the comfort of your home, you can easily agree that technology has continually shaped our stress levels.
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According to the American Psychological Association, people who use technology more often, checking various emails, unending texts, and their social accounts, rate their stress levels higher than those who do not frequently use technology (1).
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According to the research conducted by the Pew Research Center on teens in 2018, about three out of every ten teens reported that their experience was generally positive; 45% of all the teens felt that they had neutral experiences, while 24% sadly had mostly negative experiences (2).
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Knowing how technology affects your stress levels helps you become more mindful of usage patterns that can affect you. This ultimately helps you to reduce stress levels better and properly use your technology.
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A better understanding of how technology affects our stress levels helps you build healthy interactions and connections, both offline and online, as you become more aware of how the use of technology may impact your relationships with others.
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This article looks at the positive and negative effects that technology may have on our stress levels. It compares and contrasts these positive and negative effects or juxtaposes them.
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The advantages of stress management in your daily life are numerous, and this fact cannot be denied. When you manage stress, you get to have better relationships with others. Increased productivity, creativity, and confidence levels are not excluded among the multiple benefits of stress management. It has also been linked with improved mental and physical health. Several notable tips on stress management in a technology-driven world are provided in this article. Enjoy the solemn ride!
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Positive Influence of Technology on Reducing Stress Levels
In today’s fast-paced world, jam-packed with hustle and bustle, stress is inadvertently but rapidly becoming a major crisis among many people. With the use of technology, stress levels can be reduced. Studies have shown that technology can have a huge positive impact on stress management.
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It is necessary to look at the various benefits and peruse the positive influence of technology on the promotion of well-being and the reduction of stress.
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1. Applications are used for reducing stress: Technology has brought about numerous benefits to our lives, and one of them is the reduction of stress. The following apps are part of several applications that can help you reduce stress:
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Happify: Happify is an app that helps your mental health by using scientific techniques to help you reduce stress and boost your mood. It works by offering many games and activities that can help you build endurance and ultimately manage stress (3).
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MyFitnessPal: MyFitnessPal is a health and fitness application that also helps users reduce stress. It offers you several tools that guide or help you manage your diet and exercise pattern. These help you to reduce burnout and promote general health (4).
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Calm: Calm, as the name suggests, is a meditation application that offers guided meditations and relaxation exercises to help you greatly manage stress and anxiety. A plus to it: Calm also features bedtime stories. Bedtime stories reduce stress and promote relaxation. They can also make children and adults fall asleep more easily (5).
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Pacifica: This is also a technological product that helps your mental health by providing features that can help you manage stress, anxiety, or depression. It offers mood-tracking features and relaxation exercises (6).
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Headspace: Headspace is also a meditation app that provides well-instructed meditation procedures and many meditation programs that can ultimately help to reduce stress and improve focus (7).
2. Technology for distance relationships: Imagine there were no means to reach your loved ones that live far away! That’s stressful for you, right? Technology helps to prevent any possible stress resulting from detachment from your relationships. With the advent of technology, you can see your loved ones through Skype, text them, monitor them, and check up on them once in a while.
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3. Therapy: With technology, there’s no gainsaying the fact that a lot of people have opened up to therapy. Online therapy offers help in reducing stress. Mental health personality issues have found help simply by talking to professionals online who may live far away.
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4. Online support groups: While you go about your daily activities from a different part of the world, like-minded friends can help you navigate your way through trauma by discussing tips and following up with each other. Online support groups are goal-oriented and help you overcome whatever life situation you are looking to improve. A group of pregnant third-trimester moms could build an online support group where each person freely expresses herself, asks questions, and grows.
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5. Access to information: We relax because we know that technology will assist us in assignments, projects, and difficult tasks. This helps us manage stress. Technology also provides myriads of information on how you can reduce stress and improve your general well-being.
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The Negative Influence of Technology on Stress Levels
While it is true that technology has brought several benefits to mankind, there are still many negative impacts of technology on our lives and stress in general. Here are some points to consider:
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1. Constant connectivity: Technology has made being constantly online possible. While it sounds like a positive feature in its entirety, it has increased pressure among many people, especially young adults. You constantly have to face the need to keep up with events online. An influx of emails and messages arrives. All the accumulated effects of these daily habits pose great stress on us.
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2. Information overload: Ever crossed the streets of the Twitter app and experienced an influx of several issues, controversies, and different opinions? How did they make you feel? They make some people feel overwhelmed and not sure of what to contribute. All these can cause some level of stress. Technology creates that space where several opinions on several matters are dropped by just about anyone. This makes it so hard to choose the right information, thereby increasing stress levels.
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3. Internet bullying: Some people derive joy from bullying, talking down to, and lashing out at others on social media platforms. These can come across as painful and may cause increased levels of stress and anxiety. Through technology, anonymity can empower people who may not be as bold physically to be otherwise anonymous online. Being bullied publicly online may lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
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4. Sedentary lifestyle: binge-watching your favorite movie series, having all you need in the comfort of your space, and depending on machines for your daily chores are all packages that come with technology and improved technology. While this sounds good and nice, it promotes a sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary lifestyles have great effects on our well-being and stress levels.
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5. Social media pressure: Technology has provided a means of connecting with several people via social media, but this increases the pressure of wanting to stay connected, follow trends, and be accepted. Social media creates platforms for people to display their talents and abilities. This may increase the pressure of wanting to be different or unnecessarily genius. Failure to be known may cause anxiety, low self-worth, depression, and great stress. These may take a great toll on one’s well-being. Studies showed that social media may lead to the fear of missing out (8). This fear may contribute to stress. The number of trends on social media can also be overwhelming.
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6. Addiction: Addiction could also result from the increasing number of technological products. You may feel like you have to catch up with several applications at the same time, leading to excessive time spent on technology. Friends around you become left out unintentionally. The negative effects this would have on your relationships will sooner or later cause stress as you struggle to merge a daily-growing technological space with your relationships.
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7. Technological intricacy: Users may experience unpleasant occurrences while using technology. In trying to find out how an app operates, users may feel burnout while trying new technology. All these unfavorable experiences may lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety.
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8. More screen time: Technology exposes a lot of people all over the world to excessive screen time. Most people look at their computers or gadgets for several hours. Excessive screen time before bedtime may lead to poor sleep adequacy, tiredness, and stress. Exposure to screens can make it hard to stay asleep by interfering with your circadian rhythm. Excessive screen time also leads to eye strain, fatigue, and headaches.
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Effects of Technology on Stress Levels: Net Positive or Negative
It is difficult to determine the net effect of technology on stress levels. Most of the negative influence of technology can be avoided by the individuals who use it. The level of your connection with technology goes a long way toward determining your stress levels. Technology has both negative and positive sides.
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You have to take your stress and well-being into consideration while using technology. Use technology with caution. Be aware of how it affects your stress levels. Then, you should take adequate steps to control its effects. Set boundaries for technology use. Some examples of boundaries you can set are controlling the amount of time you spend on social media and turning off notifications at certain times of the day.
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Take breaks from technology use, practice mindfulness, take a walk, appreciate nature, or practice taking a technology break altogether (or digital detox). Digital detox is a term used to describe taking complete breaks from technology for a set time. This would enable you to be mindful and would also help to improve your overall mental health.
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Several stress-controlling tips do not involve technology usage, such as exercising, reading a book, taking walks, engaging in your hobbies, spending time with friends, and spending time outdoors. Practice these self-care activities that are unnecessarily technology-intensive to reduce your stress levels.
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Make intentional decisions about how you engage with technology every day. Maximize the positive effects of technology usage while being cautious.
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Conclusion
The positive influence of technology on stress is certain. Technology for distance relationships can help reduce stress and improve focus. Online therapy offers help in reducing stress. Online support groups can help people navigate their way through trauma. Access to information can help us manage stress and improve our general well-being.
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Although there are many positive effects of technology on civilization, there are also several detrimental effects on our daily lives and stress in general. Technology has made it possible to communicate with many people via social media, but this also raises the pressure to stay in touch, keep up with trends, and fit in. The sheer volume of trends on social media can be overwhelming. Technology can cause burnout, addiction, technological complexity, and more screen time, all of which can raise stress and anxiety levels. Inadequate sleep, fatigue, and tension can all result from using screens too much right before bed.
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The impact that technology usage has on stress levels is controllable by the individuals who use the technology themselves. Have specific times you should come online and go offline. Avoid social media arguments. It is not news that the blue light from excessive screen time harms your body’s circadian rhythm. To reduce the effect of blue light on your circadian rhythm (your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle), at least one hour before bed, avoid screen time. Practice mindfulness or relaxing activities instead, such as reading a book, taking a shower, or mildly exercising.
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Engage in non-technological stress-relieving activities. Practicing various relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, or meditation can ultimately help to reduce stress levels. Take frequent breaks from technology. However, ensure you maximize the positive impacts of technology usage on stress levels.
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References
(1) American Psychological Association. (2021). APA’s Survey Finds Constantly Checking Electronic Devices Linked to Significant Stress for Most Americans. Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/02/checking-devices
(2) Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018, May 31). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
(3) happify. (n.d.). Happify: Science-Based Activities and Games. Happify.com. https://www.happify.com/
(4) MyFitnessPal. (2022). MyFitnessPal | MyFitnessPal.com. Myfitnesspal.com. https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
(5) Calm. (2019). Experience Calm. Calm. https://www.calm.com/
(6) Pacifica | Kids Helpline. (2018, June 19). Pacifica. Kids Helpline. https://kidshelpline.com.au/tools/apps/pacifica
(7) Headspace. (2018). Meditation and Mindfulness Made Simple – Headspace. Headspace. https://www.headspace.com/
(8) Wolfers, L. N., & Utz, S. (2022). Social Media Use, Stress, and Coping. Current Opinion in Psychology, 45, 101305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101305
