Does Digitalization Help or Harm Holistic Health in Today’s Society?

 

Does Digitalization Help or Harm Holistic Health in Today's Society?

“Put the device down, you’ve been on it for a while now, and that’s not good for your well-being.”  

A phrase that I’m sure all of us are tired of. Growing up as the first generation raised by technological devices, I can say for sure that as a kid, I paid more attention to my iPad rather than my parents rambling about the harm of digitalization (sorry mom…).

However, in the eyes of a kid who does not know any better, what can I say? I saw all the good things that digitalization has brought to my life. For instance, connecting with my father, whom I only met once or twice a year, utilizing platforms such as YouTube for entertainment, and even being updated with the latest news! (and what I mean by “news” is… the release date of my favorite Nickelodeon TV show).

Never would my younger self have thought that I overlooked one major red flag. 

The “Convenience Paradox”.

A term used to showcase the irony of tools and technology designed to make life more convenient often lead to unintended negative consequences, especially to your overall well-being!

To list a few, one being encouraging sedentary behavior. Can you recall how many posts you liked in a day? How many hours do you spend on Instagram? Or perhaps the number of TikTok videos you scrolled through in a day?

If you are a Millennial, Gen Z or a Gen Alpha, I am willing to bet the answer being somewhere along the lines of: “Lots of likes”, “Lots of hours” and “Lots of videos” which perfectly translates to “Lots of hours wasted sitting on the couch being glued on to your square-shaped devices”.

…Not exactly something I am innocent of as well. In addition to that, the constant headaches and eyestrain I got before going to bed? Yikes! Definitely not a lot of fun.

Number two. Do you know that the average person gets less than seven hours of sleep every night? Want another fun fact? My Kids Vision reported that on average, people (especially teenagers) spend an average of 8 hours and 39 minutes per day on screens! Isn’t it impressive how many people spend more time browsing than sleeping?

In fact, I strongly believe that many people even sacrifice their sleep hours and productivity for the sake of their screen time. I mean, school or work often would take about 9 hours a day, and adding 7 hours of sleep would add up to 16 hours! Considering that you would also need to commute, eat, shower, and do other daily activities that require a handsome amount of time, it is safe to assume that there are some instances where we neglect our daily activities for the short moment of pleasure of digitalization.

To make things clear, I acknowledge that there are some instances where digitalization helps us in our everyday activities, even one that benefits our holistic health. With that being said, I rarely found that to be the case. In fact, growing up, I witnessed my loved one slowly deteriorating, such as not being as active as before, swallowing sleeping pills and caffeine to make up for their lack of sleep, facing constant anxiety from worrying about their next posts on social media (to name a few).

A speaker at a conference I attended last year quoted something that helped us reflect on this reality: “Digitalization only happens because of human activities, don’t let the convenience of it become the reason for the demise of human activities.”

“Don’t let digitalization become the reason for our demise.” Is something I would encourage everyone to keep in mind the next time you do utilize the benefit of digitalization. Of course, unless you are fine to spend the final few moments of your life losing the ability to walk, depending on pills to put you to sleep, and losing precious moments of life which would never return for the short-term pleasure digitalization has to offer.

By Gracelycia Angeline Serat

9th January 2025