Do you need a Digital Detox?
Digital media and devices like smartphones, iPads, tablets and laptops have invaded our lives and our minds. We are bamboozled and bombarded by what is an overdose of digital information, almost translating into an epidemic that may be termed ‘digital infobesity’ (information excess). This is more so in a pandemic era when life has taken a 360 degree turn and become digital. We are constantly in touch with the world of digital media checking WhatsApp messages and updates, Facebook posts and stories, tweeting away on Twitter and posting our lives on Instagram and Snapchat. We also have various apps on our phones that beep to keep us alerted, and we keep checking so as not to miss anything.
What damage has digital media done?
Digital media has taken over our lives completely. Human beings have always been a species that have communicated via speech. Digital media has transformed speech communication into messages and text communications whereby human beings have forgotten the art of speaking to one another. When one visits parks and cafes, one is sickened to see human beings so busy on their gadgets. Social visits now involve multiple groups of human beings deskbound and torpid, glued to their devices and gadgets. In fact, many of them may forward messages to the person in front of them!
(With inputs from Pragya Lodha, a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist based in Mumbai)
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Dr Avinash De Sousa is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist based in Mumbai. He is the Founder of the Global Society for Digital Psychology and the Founder-Trustee of the Desousa Foundation.
Pragya Lodha is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist based in Mumbai.