The Tecnostressjust as you can guess from the word, it is a form of stress linked to contemporary world and to its very close connection with the technology. THE’hyperconnectionthat is, the continuous and infinite availability of information on multiple channels (social, TV, e-mail, work platforms) represents the context in which we are all immersed daily. Studies published on Journal of Behavoral Adics And Frontiers in Psychology They highlighted how this constant flow of information is linked to a reduction in gray matter, reducing attention and ability to regulate our emotions.
This imbalance between infinite information and our attention that instead has gods limits finishedcan have unpleasant effects, favoring the onset of stress (sometimes even in forms chronic) and linked to the constant use of technology to communicate, work or consume content. The first step to reduce the so -called Tecnostress and exposure to the huge amount of information is to take awareness of the time we spend on the mobile phone, through for example monitoring app. Also silence notifications Or avoid always watching the news, several times a day can decrease the stimuli and stressors for our brain.
The brain under “digital siege” loses gray matter and attention
In addition to TV and PC, tools like the smartphone have become inseparable companions: we keep them less than a meter away for most of the day. They are often the before and the last thing that we see during the day, but being so close and for so long at the smartphone and other communication channels means being exposed to continuous information And of all kinds: wars, climatic crisis, black chronicle, perfectly) perfect lives that we compare with ours. From this exhibition there is a response of Psychophysiological stress Strictly linked to daily actions which, especially since after the pandemic, proliferate at any time of the day: work notifications, “unconscious” access to social media, news news in the background. All this overload stimulates the production of cortisolthe stress hormone, and induces alterations in the form and composition of ours brain.
A 2019 study appeared on Journal of Behavoral Addictionshighlighted that excessive and uncontrolled use of the smartphone and social media was related to one decrease in volume of the cortex cerebral prefrontal. This area, located right above the eye orbits, is crucial for the ability to adapt the behavior Based on the consequences. There Loss of gray matter In this region, according to researchers, compromises ours ability to resist negative feedback and further feeds the addiction to smartphone. A previous survey on Frontiers in Psychology he had already reported similar effects: reduced attention and difficulty to regular emotions and behaviors.
How to reduce the effects of Tecnostress
Some studies try to provide strategies and advice to deal with the stress induced by the use of technology. An article from 2022 produced by Finnish and US researchers suggests to carefully identify the “stressor“, That is, pay attention to what are the moments and the sensations more negative we feel during the use of technology. We often do not realize the thin mechanisms of frustration They start when we look at the screen: notifications that create a sense of urgency (often unjustified), stories of influencers who from inspiration are transformed by frustrating comparisons.
Help could derive from monitoring functionality that we have on smartphones (often is in the settings with the name “Digital wellness and parents control“), which indicates the time spent in each used application. Once taken consciousness of our relationship with digital channels and with what “worsens the day”, we should commit ourselves to Don’t give in to automatismsthen put the phone down when we realize that we have taken it for no reason, or close the apps that we open for inertia.
This can also be done with the help of App that blocks access to certain other apps, such as those of social media, during certain hours of the day. Other strategies may be avoiding putting the news every day for lunch and dinner, silence notifications of social networks or select actively pages or people followed, up to drastic solutions such as the return to Telephones without connection or with only the essential apps available.
