COVID - headache

I stare at the flashing cursor on the 32-inch monitor. A notification buzzes - I look first at the 1.2 "display on the fitness band, and then at the 6.1" screen of the smartphone. Which way to look, screens surround us.

We all know the alarming statistics regarding our use of smartphones. We heard an alarm beating from reports according to which statistically each of us unlocks the phone from 80 to even 150 times a day (depending on the research).

COVID-19 only aggravated the situation. As reported recently by the Washington Post , during a pandemic the average Screen Time measured on iOS devices increased by 33 percent. There are users who talk about extending the time spent in front of the screen by two or three times.

Before the SARS-CoV2 epidemic spread around the world, the official recommendations of the American Pediatric Academy were that it is not advisable for a person aged 5-17 to spend more than 2 hours a day in front of the screen.

WHO recommends that this time should not exceed an hour per day for the youngest.

When humanity locked itself in their homes, the recommendations blurred. The official hour limit has disappeared, and both AAP and other agencies, including the Australian Ministry of Health, said that during the closing time, the time spent by children in front of the screen will increase significantly.

How much it has increased - it is not yet known. I bet, however, that when specific post-pandemic data appears, it will turn out that not only have we spent the last months glued to the screens, but that it will be difficult to tear us away from them.

Time spent in front of the screen increased not only from boredom, but also from necessity.

Remote work and remote teaching have in themselves increased the time spent in front of the displays into space. Students who would normally spend 6–7 hours on school benches looking at an analog board and staring at physical sheets of paper now spend 7 or more hours staring at a computer screen, be it in the video chat with the teacher or doing homework.

We are still talking only about the screens of our computers and smartphones. And liquid crystal displays surround us absolutely everywhere.

Most of us spend hours outside of the computer and phone in front of the TV - another screen.

Some of us have replaced paper books and magazines with e-readers and tablets. And although the first one has an e-link display that does not hurt your eyes like an LCD display, it is also another screen.

Analog watches give way to smartwatches and fitness bands - subsequent screens on the wrists.

One of the worst trends in modern automotive in my opinion are "virtual dashboards", replacing traditional clocks - another screen in which we stare in addition while driving, constantly exposed to its tiresome light. And in the car we can also find the screen of the infotainment system. In some cars, these screens are even connected, giving the impression of a single display, extending over the entire length of the dashboard. In Tesla, model 3 and model Y do not even have a second screen. There is one big monitor in the middle of the board, acting as a cockpit, multimedia system and on-board computer in one.

The screens tire us.

Already at the beginning of the 21st century, medicine coined the term CVS - computer vision syndrome, i.e. a multi-symptomatic ailment resulting from prolonged gazing at the monitor screen. Today commonly talk about 'screen fatigue "or ekranozmęczeniu.

CVS or screen fatigue is primarily manifested by asthenopia (a subjective feeling of weakness of the eyes), headaches, general fatigue, nausea and in extreme cases even chronic migraines. To the above often also other ills associated with the posture in which we use the screens - neck, back, fingers, etc.

In the 'Eye strain report' carried out in 2016, 10,000 surveyed over 65 percent acknowledged that he regularly experiences one or more CVS symptoms. Already then, about four years ago, the total time spent in front of the screens was on average 6 hours. Today we are approaching almost eight hours.

Many closed religious orders adopt the rule of 8 hours of work, 8 hours of prayer and 8 hours of sleep. In our digitized world, we are just leveling up with them, but "praying" for 8 hours a day to the digital god of screens.

8 hours is still averaged respect. According to the latest study , carried out just before the outbreak of a pandemic commissioned by Vision Direct, the average Briton spends 13 hours a day in front of various screens. The same study conducted in a sample in the United States showed that before a pandemic, a New World resident spent more than 19 hours a day in the digital world (!). I do not want to believe in the universality of this research, but even if the results were half true, they are still alarming. Even before the pandemic, we were welded to the screens almost permanently. The coronavirus has made everything worse. The Vision Direct report says that under current conditions, a statistical adult will spend 34 (!) Years of his life with his face on the screen.

COVID - headache.

The fact that we are tired of ubiquitous screens and constant presence before them, became even more apparent in the era of coronavirus.

Lessons, work and even social gatherings have moved to virtual messengers such as Zoom, Skype and MS Teams. However, it soon turned out that while we value remote contact, it does not affect our health.

Teachers and lecturers especially complain that they are exhausted by sitting in front of the screen, to which they have not been accustomed so far.

However, participants of video chats and even family meetings organized this way also complain about fatigue and lack of concentration.

On the canvas of the growing flood of similar-sounding complaints, a new term was created - "Zoom fatigue". And although one messenger was hit in the name, the phenomenon concerns each of them.

In National Geographic, a team of experts explains where this fatigue comes from.

A huge part of it is the CVS described above, but it doesn't stop there. In human communication, the brain only partially focuses on the words spoken by the other person. At the same time, it also processes other signals coming from the interlocutor - primarily body language, respiratory rhythm or intonation. Professor of cyberpsychology at the University of Norfolk State in Virginia Andrew Franklin explains that during direct contact our mind perceives all these instincts. It doesn't require any effort from us.

During video chat, individual elements of communication are disturbed in one way or another. Technical problems are of course the most "tiring"; interrupted sound, changing volume, interruptions in video transmission. According to the researchers, even a delay of 1.2 seconds can throw us off balance.

In addition, there are restrictions on other elements. For example, a camera angle that covers only a part of the body, cuts the torso, hands, arms, etc. The lack of a clear view of these elements significantly limits our ability to perceive the body's speech. Professor Franklin also adds that due to the lack of other factors, we focus on eye contact. And this - kept too long - can be intimidating or even create an evolutionary sense of danger.

Many windows in the messenger interface are not conducive to focus, because at the moment we can not really focus on just one thing. We are constantly bombarded with micro-diffusers, which results in tearing our attention and as a result - weary.

The time in front of the screen will only increase. Time away from the screen will be more valuable.

There is no doubt that a pandemic will leave a lasting impression on our digital practices, and once extended screen time it will be very difficult to shorten.

Work and distance learning will also remain in force, at least to some extent, so we will inevitably spend more and more time in front of the screens.

All this means that more and more of us will start to experience CVS symptoms and feel screen fatigue . Trapped in the trap of the displays of our smartphones, work computers and televisions, we will begin to feel a growing desire to escape.

I have been working remotely for almost 7 years and for a long time I can see for myself what fatigue of screens means. In the COVID era, this fatigue has grown to such an extent that today I thankfully welcome every moment where I do not have to look at the screen. Every hour of walking, a moment of manual work or driving a car without a damned virtual cockpit.

It even came to the point that for the first time in years I began to buy paper books again. I got tired of the screen to the point where even the Kindle-friendly display became an enemy, and the mind wanted a paper springboard and physical contact with the object.

This turn of events was reported by David Sax in his book "The Revenge of The Analog" as early as 2016. Its pages contain examples of many businesses that do not seem to make any sense in the digital age (paper magazines, vinyl records, analog cameras) ), and yet they are experiencing a renaissance due to the growing global fatigue of digitization.

We appreciate the internet and the benefits of digitization. We are happy that the world has become a global village and the flow of information has become immediate.

The mind and imagination would like to fall into the arms of digitization, but organisms educated for millennia of evolution are not able to meet the challenge without being exposed to glaring discomfort. Although technologically nothing prevents our world from becoming a place stuck with screens, straight from science-fiction movies, our bodies say "belt".

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COVID - headache