Screen Fatigue is Real - functional medicine strategies to combat it

Here’s a statistic for you: According to a 2019 survey, Americans check their phones an average of 96 times per day.

Yikes. Guilty as charged.

That little screen, and other screens, have increasingly dominated our day (especially since the pandemic).

And there are real, measurable consequences to all that screen time.

• Digital distractions are known to increase a phenomenon called semitasking - meaning getting twice as much done, but half as well.
• Blue-spectrum light from screens is a known neurotransmitter & sleep disruptor.
• Poor posture associated with at-home laptop use can cause pain, headaches, decreased cognition, and increased stress reactivity via the vagus nerve.
• Engagement and learning go down. Anxiety and depression go up. These are the trends we’re seeing in adults and children with ever-increasing screen exposure.

For many, the thought of spending one more minute than absolutely necessary, sitting in front of a screen, makes them want to chuck that laptop into the Grand Canyon.

Screen fatigue is REAL.

But there are benefits to this technology, too.

• Because of the universality of digital sharing and platforms like Zoom, many workplaces have adopted flexible schedules, allowing for work-from-home in more situations. This can be great for families, folks with long commutes, people with chronic diseases, caretakers, people who like to take a walk in the woods on their lunch-break, and some folks even find they’re more productive at home than in an office environment.
• Computer technology allows us to connect visually - especially with friends and loved ones far away - which has been a godsend for many separated by COVID protocols.
• It allows us access to education - my husband and I recently took up skiing and benefitted greatly from online ski lessons via YouTube (for real, it helped a ton)!
• And it allows folks like me to reach people all over the world who need specific, Functional Medicine advice, support, validation, and information to improve their whole-person health & wellness!

So, as usual, our goal is to optimize our body’s ability to tolerate necessary screen-time while minimizing the negative impact. Let’s create resilience to screen fatigue, yo!

Here’s where you can start:

Invest in some blue-light blocking glasses. These glasses are designed to filter out or block blue wavelengths of light that can disrupt circadian rhythm and decrease healthy melatonin production in the brain. In one study, researchers even found that wearing blue light blocking glasses while gaming (playing e-sports) reduced participants stress response by balancing their sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Get a pair for yourself and for the video-game enthusiasts in your life (like, perhaps, your kids)! Click HERE for my favorites.

If you’re listening to a presentation or in a meeting, consider taking notes by hand instead of typing - according to a 2014 study, “laptop note takers’ tend to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words...which is detrimental to learning.” Need the notes digitally? Think about getting a tablet with a stylus or digital pencil! Best of both worlds!

Try a technique called “palming” to relieve eye strain. Bring your hands to your face and cup the hands so that there is no pressure on your eyeballs. Allow the base of the hands to touch the cheeks while the fingers are interlaced and resting on your forehead. Then, with your eyes closed, imagine seeing black. Breathe slowly and diaphragmatically while feeling the warmth of the palm soothing the eyes. Feel your shoulders, head, and eyes relaxing, and do this for 5 minutes.

Supplement with anti-oxidant carotenoids, like lutein and zeaxanthin. Derived from foods like green, leafy vegetables, these micronutrients protect the retina of the eye from inflammation and damage, as well as help filter out blue light. They’re especially good to supplement when you’re experiencing eye strain from so much screen time. Researched doses are in the 20-25mg/day range, so the amount in your multivitamin might not be enough. Find my favorite HERE.

Embrace audio. For information or education that can be consumed more casually, steer away from the screen and toward a speaker (or your earbuds). While I will readily admit that I’m more of a visual learner than audio learner, so this technique has it’s limits for me, I have migrated toward audio downloads and podcasts instead of reading articles on my phone or watching informational videos on social media. Whether on your commute, taking a walk, cleaning the house, or doing other “mindless” activities, listening to a podcast or audio presentation can be a real time-saver as well.

That’s why I’ve launched the Dr. Kate Functional Medicine Podcast!

So that you can still access my stress-optimizing expertise without adding to the screen-fatigue problem. You’ll get practical suggestions, a Functional-Medicine perspective, evidence-based information, real-life insights, & genuine encouragement. We're gettin' down to business to bring you the stress-optimization you need, at your convenience.

Search "Dr. Kate Functional Medicine Podcast" in your favorite podcast app to subscribe!

Additional source HERE.