Why it is necessary to get a digital detox?

By Smitakshi Guha

The world is turning digital with every passing minute, and it is true beyond doubt that digitization has made living a lot easier than one could have ever thought of decades ago. However, every coin has two sides and when it comes to embracing the digital media, the scenario is no different.

The internet is not just easily accessible to the mankind, it is also cheaper, so much that it is not at all shocking to know that people tend to spend more than half of the day’s time being engrossed in internet, being online and delved into the pool that digital media is.

Quite often people get so engaged in the world of internet that they lose the grip on reality and frequently forget asking themselves, whether they are procrastinating on other important stuff. While it may seem absolutely natural to many, to check their phones and tablets every now and then, looking for a new mail or an update on their social media accounts, studies have revealed that this tendency is anything but normal.

Anxiousness to constantly stay updated about your digital world has been termed as one kind of psychological disorder and hence doctors have stated that one with such anxiousness must make it a point to get a digital detox in order to have a better and healthy lifestyle, and stay focused more on reality than the virtual world.

In fact, research has revealed that many people tend to be more of a competent person in the digital world than reality per se. In order to analyze and identify yourself as an extremist in the digital set up, you need to ask yourself the following questions, and answer very honestly:

• Do I feel extremely anxious when I’m not able to the log in to my social media accounts?
• Does it irk me too much when the internet is down and I feel restless knowing I can’t check my mails and social networks?
• Do I spend at least one evening, not hovering over my Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts?
• Do my parents and friends complain often about how I don’t give them time and am always engaged in my phone or tablet?
• Do I stay up late at night, checking my phone every other second?
• Do I skip my meals or forget important meetings because I’m too busy online?

If you find situations like the above similar and nodded your head in approval, then yes, you need a digital detox pronto. Psychologists also term this tendency as an internet-use disorder, and it generally revolves around the fact that the affected people feel themselves in a much better place in the virtual world of internet than they do in the real world and this is what gives rise to their immense addiction.

Coming to the downside of this condition when it comes to health, there are plenty—starting from sleeping disorders to vision problems, body ache, stress, and weight gain or weight loss.

The tendency to just dive into the virtual world in the long run can also cause serious health hiccups such as heart diseases, anemia, as well as diabetes.

The only way to get out of it is to start with baby steps. It is not going to be easy to just toss away and boom! Reality sets in! You have to make a schedule for proper time management and gradually start the process of indulging yourself in other distractions rather than ones that revolve around digital devices. Try engaging yourself in activities that involve the physical environment, such as sports, dance, or simply talking to other people—the faces of whom you can see for real, and not on digital platforms like Facetime or Skype.

The more you start involving yourself in real stuff, the sooner you will be able to avoid being a digital puppet and start living your life for real.