Is there a Link Between Screen Time and Anxiety?

Anxiety can be defined as our body's mental and physical rejoinder to threats, intuitions, and past experiences. Anxiety usually portrays situations much worse than they are. It affects mental health and restrains the person from carrying out simple tasks, focus, concentrate and even sleep. The physical anxiety symptoms include:

• Breathlessness,
• Trembling and shivering,
• Unnatural sweating,
• A thumping heart.

Anxiety disorder has become a common issue in our country and requires medical assistance.

Contemplating several surveys and studies, it can be said that people these days are more likely to have affected mental health than they were earlier, and excessive screen timing is one of the primary causes of it. People, especially kids, these days spend more than half of their day using phones and other screened gadgets which worsens their mental health and also has other effects like:

• Poor eyesight,
• Lack of concentration and efficiency,
• Lack of creativity,
• Irritability,
• Distractions

Have you read? 8 Steps to Conquer Digital Addiction in Kids

Excessive screen time for kids and teenagers is more likely to cause anxiety and depression. It may not instantly affect their mental health but its active effects gradually impede their mental health. 

• Spending too much time with mobile phones and other screens deliberately diminishes their present bonds and friendships leaving them anxious, depressed, and deprived of social interactions.

• Excessive gaming makes children furious and short-tempered. In many cases, they get so much engaged in that virtual world that even the thought of losing there makes them panicked and anxious.

• Social media is not filtered. Parents and guardians, until they regularly monitor their kids, will never know the content their children are watching and what influence it has on their minds.

• What we see on the internet is not real. Social media sets unreal parameters of physical and emotional well-being. Immature users are usually left with an inferiority complex that disturbs their mental health.

• Cyberbullying is yet another reason that completely abuses children mentally. Anyone can be a victim of it. It affects the victim so badly that they usually end up with self-harm and some even take their own lives.

The most apparent example of the link between screen time and anxiety can be seen in the situation we are in today. The frequent news updates about the arising COVID-19 cases and the death tolls is worsening the mental health of many people. It is giving rise to anxiety and fear among the people. Doctors are advising everyone, especially the patients, to stay away from all this. It is said that the effects it has on the mental health is worse than the virus itself.

Even the constant requests and requirements of essential health supplies after a certain point is affecting the mental health of the person amplifying them and this has been seen in the social media stories of several influencers and creators. They are taking breaks from social media because of it.

The importance of mental health is indescribable. Parents must be aware of how much screen time is healthy for their children and themselves. It is obvious that amidst the ongoing circumstances, it is tough to keep children away from the screen. But where there is a will, there's a way. With proper guidance, parents can help children find other things amazing like book reading, storytelling, painting, and crafts, etc. They can make strict regulations on their family's screen time and limit their access to the internet. A healthy family time will always lessen the screen time and keep every member mentally healthy.

Also read: What Impact do Parental Mental Disorders have on the Child