Summary
We live in a world full of technological advances. We have access to and we use technology and electronic devices in our personal lives and in our workplaces. The research indicates that electronic device use has shortened our attention spans. Technology and electronic devices occupy more and more of our time, affecting how we spend time with family and friends, our exercise habits, our sleeping, eating our meals, and other activities. Technology can help us in our lives. Blue light is one of the elements of electronic devices that can adversely affect us. Using technology and achieving mental wellbeing are not opposed to each other. We can make choices in our use of technology which allow for us to work towards mental wellbeing.
How is Technology Linked to Our Mental Wellbeing
Homo sapiens developed technology ostensibly to improve the experience of human lives. People with creativity, knowledge, and initiative worked diligently for the rest of us to be able to use technology. A word of gratitude is due them.
Technology and my use of technology can definitely contribute to my mental wellbeing.
And, the resulting technology boom is hampering our lives.
Who Is Responsible? Let’s explore further.
Who Is Responsible for Where We Are Today
Each one of us.
Casting blame for the dominance of technology in the lives of many people on earth is not productive. Each of us has a responsibility for our current situation. Each of us may be held accountable for how technology has overtaken our lives- or not. Each of us can address the space technology occupies in our personal lives and our professional lives.
Why am I responsible to address technology in my life, including in my professional life?
The answer is simple.
Technology has affected our attention spans; the amount of time we spend in relationship with others; the level of connection we experience with others; our interoceptive sense (awareness of what is going on physiologically inside of us); our dependence on technology with tolerance (addiction to technology, for some of us); our sleep; our social and emotional intelligence; our brain development; and our self-care habits.
Think back to a time when you neglected to heed hunger pangs because you were absorbed by something on an electronic device, whether for work or play. Need I say more?
Attention Span and Technology: Now That Affects My Mental Wellbeing
I cannot speak for everyone. I know for myself that when I cannot focus on a task, I am not happy.
I need to be attentive at work. I need to be attentive in interpersonal relationships. I need to be attentive when I am at the grocery store. I need to be attentive while completing my income taxes! I need to be attentive during my chores. And, I need to be attentive during my hobbies.
So, it concerns me that my technology habit is affecting my attention span.
In his podcast, Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam broadcast an enlightening episode entitled Finding Focus. He interviewed a psychologist who is also a researcher, Gloria Mark, about the impact of technology on our lives. In terms of attention, the research data might keep me awake at night. We are increasingly spending less time on a given screen and more time switching pages/screens on our devices. On average, in the study, in 2020 before the pandemic, the time a person spent on a given (electronic) screen was 47 seconds. In 2012, the average time spent looking at a given screen (electronic) was 75 seconds.
Go back, pause, and read the final two sentences in the last paragraph again.
In the Finding Focus episode, there is a discussion about how much time we spend switching to another task when we are interrupted by technology. Go ahead; take a listen to the podcast:
Then calculate how much time you wasted today while switching tasks. That may just convince you why each one of us is accountable for changing the place technology occupies in our lives, at work and at home.
Sleep Disruption Can Affect Our Mental Wellbeing
Let’s take sleep as an example of how technology impacts us.
Electronic devices emanate blue light which hits our retinas, generating a signal that is sent to our hypothalamus and other parts of the brain responsible for circadian rhythm (24 hour daytime schedule of systems in our bodies, such as the release of hormones, our body temperature, our cognitive performance), the sleep/wake cycle management, and sleep quality, among other issues.
Just recall a day when you slept less than you usually do. You had to stay awake late at night working on a report. You had to be awake early the next morning to go to work. How did you feel during the following day? Cranky? Irritable? Sad? Anxious?
Perhaps you experienced all of these feelings.
By disrupting our sleep and our daily body rhythm, we disrupt our mood. (I alluded to this in the post about Daylight Savings Time: DST and Mental Health).
Imagine the sleep disruption continued for days or weeks or months- exactly what we are reenacting when we repeatedly expose ourselves to electronic devices before bedtime.
Is Blue Light All Bad?
Blue light has its benefits.
Blue light falls in the high energy spectrum of light that is visible to humans. Blue light exposure during the daytime helps keep us alert. Daytime exposure to blue light suppresses the production of melatonin which prevents us from falling asleep during the daytime and helps with our mood.
Excessive exposure to blue light or exposure to blue light at the wrong time of day can adversely affect our mood and our sleep and our body rhythms.
Excessive exposure to blue light can also damage our retina.
How To Manage Exposure to Blue Light
While using electronic devices and while driving, wear glasses specially made to reduce the amount of blue light that enters your eyes. Consult your optometrist or ophthalmologist about blue light filtering glasses.
Turn down the intensity (brightness) of the light on your electronic devices.
Include blue light enriched lighting when using artificial lighting during the daytime.
Turn off your electronic devices at least four hours before bedtime.
Some Additional Resources About Blue Light
UCAR Center for Science Education
Wavelength of Blue and Red Light
https://scied.ucar.edu/image/wavelength-blue-and-red-light-image
The inner clock – Blue light sets the human rhythm
Wahl et al, Dec 2019 J Biophotonics 12(12)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7065627/
Next Steps to Mental Wellbeing in a World of Technology
Promoting mental wellbeing and using technology are not two opposing actions. We don’t have to become a Luddite, resisting all technological advances, in the pursuit of mental wellbeing. Learning from the research can guide us to espouse healthy habits in our use of technology.
Do we wait until we notice technology infringing on our relationships and our pastimes to make changes in our lives?
Rather than waiting for deleterious consequences, we can prioritize activities in our lives. Spending time with family and friends. Exercising. Sleeping longer hours and turning off electronic devices long before bedtime. Enjoying our meals without electronic devices.
Of course, if we are on call, we have to keep the devices on our person and on. But, we can broach the topic at work about when to call someone who is on call.
Make It Our Mission: Mental Wellbeing
Mental wellbeing in our technological society is possible.
Give technology a rest. Give ourselves a rest. And start living.
The last I heard, the time already spent (or wasted) cannot be retrieved. I can’t go back in time. I plan on making every moment sacred and precious because all I have is Now.
Additional Resources:
Brain Health Consequences of Digital Technology Use
Small et al, Jun 2020 Dialogues Clin Neurosci 22(2); 179-187
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7366948/
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