Stick to your phone or PC screen day and night. More and more Italians are victims of technostress: 8 out of 10 compared to 5 out of 10 in 2015. And the abuse of chats is also to blame. Enzo Di Frenna, founder of Netdipendenza Onlus, raised the alarm and also provided advice on possible remedies through Adnkronos Salute.
“If in 2015 our research on 2,000 digital workers indicated that 50% were techno-stressed, today with the massive use of social media and AI this percentage has probably risen to 80% of the general population. Above all because – he explains Di Frenna – the use of devices has increased among young people and also among those workers who were not previously exposed to risk such as farmers who today use drones or PCs to manage companies”.
Identikit of the techno-stressed person
But what is the identikit of the techno-stressed person? “It’s someone who, when they get out of bed in the morning, checks their mobile phone first thing – he replies – then spends at least 30 minutes reading news or other things, and only then has breakfast. But above all during the day, they check their mobile phone 200 times, in 2014 American research had verified that on average we check our cell phones 150 times a day. At the end of the day the techno-stressed person goes to bed to always look at the device before falling asleep. In short, he can’t do without his cell phone or iPad.”
Symptoms and remedies
“Video addiction is a disease and Netdipendenza Onlus – explains Di Frenna – wants to help these people to ‘switch off’. It’s like when you eat badly and obesity and diseases such as diabetes arise, the same thing happens with information, perhaps of poor quality, which causes the brain to become ‘obese’. Those who are techno-stressed have headaches, suffer from insomnia, have anxiety attacks and depression can also occur“.
Since 2007 Netdipendenza Onlus has been promoting excursions in contact with nature to prevent video addiction and technostress, and all health risks. “In nature, your cell phone turns off – warns Di Frenna, one of the leading Italian experts on technostress and digital fasting – I also carry a Faraday case where I put my mobile phone and even if it is turned off it no longer emits signals. On excursions we must reconnect with nature, go back to seeing what is beautiful around us and, for those who want, also meditate in silence”.
The important thing is to learn to survive the overdose of information, news, screens, artificial intelligence, omnipresent internet connections and smart working. “Digital fasting can also be done at home, just take a break from your mobile phone and PCI help people train themselves not to live attached to the spell of screens, as I define it”. But for those who prefer to escape from the confines of the home, The digital fasting trek will be held on Sunday 15 October in various areas of Italy and in the Albanian Alps around the town of Skutari. Spontaneous excursions by citizens in the woods of Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Lazio are planned, but also a walk through the woods of the Albanian Alps led by Davide Marilanich of ‘North Albania Alp’ who joined the initiative together with a group of Italians living around the town of Skutari.
Group chat and how to save yourself
Another pitfall comes from the chats that grow and multiply on mobile phones: from family ones, to class ones, to work colleagues and free time. So much so that it is difficult to keep up with the messages, audio and attachments that go around and ‘clutter’ the phone. Difficult to keep up in all groups and respond in real time.
“There is a habit of using WhatsApp – notes Di Frenna – which creates addiction, because there is a need to feel connected with others and everyone creates a chat for everything. It is clear that the attention of the Our brain can’t handle more than 10 chats or groups – he warns – because they produce from 10 to 30 messages every day and at the end of the day there are hundreds of communications. . Not to mention the vocal notes which become very long while they should be a maximum of 30 seconds“.
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