Digital Detox: Health Benefits of Digital Detox

Today we feel there is no life without being on social media or without being addicted or attached to technology. It is true that technology and social media has great importance in our life today, but being addicted towards it is not a good idea. It is essential for us to go for a digital detox from time to time. In this article, we will talk about digital detox and the health benefits of digital detox.

Today getting away from technology or social media is like a foreign thing for most of us. It is like we have forgotten living a simpler life, spending quality time with family and friends, spending time with nature, or staying away from technology. Digital detox is one thing that can actually help us get loads of health benefits.

Digital detox is actually the period during which an individual refrains from using technology or any electronic devices, like computers or smartphones. This kind of detox can reduce stress, help you focus more on self awareness, and also make you fitter physically and mentally.⁽¹⁾ According to a study in Mind, about 95% of those people interviewed said that they experienced an increase in their mood after putting down their smart phones and spent time outside and also experienced a calmer and well balanced mood.

A digital detox can really do great wonders. Let’s see how it does so!

When you are staring at the screen, you are probably lying down or sitting. There digital addiction is a cause of growing obesity in many people because of sedentary lifestyle or a lifestyle where they are tied to bed or chair staring constantly at the screen. But, when you go for a digital detox, you can practice some healthy and active lifestyle, which can help you reduce your weight to some extent.

One of the best health benefits of digital detox is it benefits your back, shoulders as well as your neck. When you are sitting on the desk constantly staring on the screen, you are putting a lot of strain on your lower back, shoulders and neck; and it is even bad for your waistline. Undergoing a digital Detox helps your posture and relieves your back, shoulder and neck from undue strain.

You can also improve your posture once you go for a digital detox. When you are no more looking down at your smart phone all the time, you are actually realigning your spine and your neck by pulling back your head. After sometime, you can even find that you pull your shoulders naturally back and open up the chest, and you clear your posture. By improving your posture, digital Detox benefits your health.

One of the finest physical health benefits of digital detox is that it helps in relaxing your eyes.⁽⁴⁾ When you spend lot of time glued at the screen, you put a lot of strain on your eyes. You may experience digital eye strain along with symptoms of dry eyes and headaches. And what’s the hardest part of this is, you feel these discomforts all throughout the day and every day. If you do digital detox at least for a few days, you can start noticing that your eyes feel more relaxed and refreshed. Doing digital detox daily for some hours for a few weeks can actually offer your eyes the essential rest and you can even get better sleep.⁽⁴⁾

This is perhaps the best thing that by doing digital detox you can help yourself in improving your overall health and quality of life. You get more time to take care of your health, your body and mind when you put down your phones and disconnect from social media at least for some days. Digital Detox would help you have time for some of the best self-care practices, such as exercising, meditating and spending time with nature and thus in this way improves your health. Moreover, your relationships with others also improve with a digital detox and you also become more productive at work.

Digital Detox can help you treat depression. Some psychologists from UK found that there is a strong link between heavy use of internet and depression. There is a study that shows there is a link between heavy use of Facebook and symptoms of depression and low-self esteem. By cutting short the time you spend online and trying to socialize more face-to-face and exercising well can actually help people who are suffering from depression.

There is one study that shows relationship between the use of smartphone, academic performance and anxiety. People who are more addicted to smartphones are likely to suffer from anxiety. By doing a digital detox, you can help yourself in controlling anxiety and benefit your mental health greatly.

One of the best mental health benefits of a digital detox is its benefit in managing eating disorders. It is known that excessive use of social media is directly associated with eating disorders. You can manage this by cutting short the time you spend online or on social media with the digital life.

According to the scientists of Harvard Medical School, there is a link between technology use and sleep and they explain that excessive use of technology results in insomnia. The artificial blue colored light that is produced by the digital screens suppresses the melatonin hormone, thus leaving us more awake and alert; and this also results in making us feel tired and difficulty in falling asleep. By giving yourself a Digital Detox from time to time, you are doing your health an enormous favor by getting rid of insomnia.

There is a research that has shown that social media can actually damage our self-esteem. So, by doing a Digital Detox, you can improve your self esteem and can also have an excellent emotional wellness.

When you are addicted to technology, social media or the digital life, you are totally distracted from you regular life and this sometimes even affects your brain and memory. By digital detoxing, you can remember things in more detail and also recall various things on your own, as your brain begins to work actively and effectively in the absence of gadgets. So, Digital Detox benefits your mental health by improving your memory.

Below are some of the ways to start a Digital Detox:

• Keep away from your smart phones and other electronic devices during mealtimes and enjoy spending quality meal time with family and friends; and also practice mindful eating.
• While you are on any tour, take a break from the digital world and enjoy your vacation with your loved ones or with your surroundings.
• Have a daily limited tech time and follow it religiously.
• Adopt new hobbies or take up anything that you like when you are keeping away from technology or social media, or during your digital detox period.

It is absolutely fine to use technology for our benefit, as it surely helps us is many ways. But being addicted to technology is harmful to our health. So, from time to time go for a digital detox and spend quality time alone, with friends and family, with nature and with things you love to do apart from social networking. This would help you be more connected towards yourself, with your loved ones and also help you get sufficient physical and mental health benefits.

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