The state of physical and mental exhaustion occurs due to excessive and prolonged use of digital technology
Whether it’s for fun or for work, digital is increasingly present in the life of all Brazilians. To give you an idea, a study by NordVPN predicted that internet users spend 54% of their time online.
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The survey also shows that people, in general, start logging in at 8:33am and only log out at 10:13pm. Added up to all seven days, in a typical week, the Brazilian spends 91 hours online. It is time consuming and can cause serious mental health consequences.
For psychologist and vice president of BNI Brasil, Mara Leme Martins, it is important to understand that exposure to high screen times can delay a child’s development. “Imagine the proportion of this effect in an adult life, with little or no exposure limit. This type of attitude is responsible for information overload that gradually turns into stress and can worsen into digital burnout,” he explains she.
The condition is not exclusive to the new generation of workers
In the corporate market there is still a widespread belief that burnout is an exclusive situation for workers of the new generation and that older people cannot or have not experienced this situation. For Hugo Godinho, CEO of Dialog, a startup that leads the Internal Communications sector in Brazil with a multi-channel platform, currently everyone is subject to this overload.
“Digital overload is what happens when a person receives a large volume of information on a regular basis, which may or may not come from different channels. This amount of content is usually much greater than the possibility of assimilation, i.e. not all that someone receives it manages to be, in fact, absorbed and understood”, says the expert.
For him, the use of social networks, the consumption of online news and the receipt of hundreds of notifications make him completely lose control over the amount of information viewed per day.
Myths about digital burnout
To demystify the disease, psychologist Mara Leme Martins lists 4 myths exposed daily in the corporate marketplace about digital burnout. Watch!
1. Working less is the only solution
Mara Lemes believes that while working less is one of the most recommended elements, it is not the exclusive treatment for the disease. “Working with quality and in a pleasant climate also means a lot for a process of continuous improvement of the patient being treated,” she says.
2. Burnout is just an outbreak
This location is a big myth. “Burnout follows a evolution line, i.e. the syndrome will progress from fatigue to stress, and from stress to exhaustion, until it finally reaches its worst stage, which is burnout. The situation does not simply arise, it is, in fact, a construction whose function is to undermine your working energy day after day”, explains the psychologist.
3. Treatment always needs medication
The specialist explains that not all cases require the person to receive treatment with drugs. “It all depends on degree of exhaustion that the person is suffering. In many situations it will be necessary, however it is not a rule. Every patient responds differently and of course has to be treated individually,” he comments.
4. Just turn off the passing cell phone
Even if they are responsible for the worsening of the disease, just leaving social networks “closed” will not immediately solve the problem. “Sometimes it can even lead to a significant worsening due to anxiety, if done abruptly. The disconnection must be gradual and respect the limits of each individual,” says the specialist.
“Therefore, it is worth remembering that technology is embedded in our daily lives, it is not enough to see it as the villain of a disease such as digital burnout, but how its misuse leads to this type of result. For a job market healthier in this sense, we must work to extinguish the myths that permeate the disease”, concludes Mara Leme Martins.
By Isabelle Rocha
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
