How Modern Lifestyle Affects Our Physical and Mental Health

A variety of lifestyle or health-related habits can have a major impact on a person's mental and physical health. A modern lifestyle may increase the risk of some psychological and physiological health problems. Let's have look at how the modern lifestyle may affect our physical and mental health. 
How modern lifestyle can affect our health
How modern lifestyle can affect our physical and mental health?

How Modern Lifestyle Affects Our Physical and Mental Health- Our Responsibility to Children

Introduction
Life is growing rapidly in modern times with technological advances and social media platforms. 
There are a multi-faceted compendium and many-sided synthesis of the development of human lifestyles such as technology, and social media in contemporary life. 
Communication outlets and connection sources are changing every part of our lives so fast that it can be difficult to adjust. 

Technology has improved the lives of many individuals, with nearly half of adults. For example, in the United States of America, India and other developed countries imagining life without a Smartphone is a very difficult task. 
Are technology, and communicating via social media and text messaging affecting human physical and mental health? 

Modern technology can have a big impact on the mental and physical health of users. If you are excessively attached to or highly dependent on modern equipment, it can lead to psychological issues such as distraction, the expectation of instant gratification, narcissism, and even depression. 
But if you strike a balance between online and real-world social relationships, manage screen time and move forward, you can keep your mental health under control.

Here, we will look at some ways in which modern lifestyle or technology has affected the physical and psychological health of ordinary people.





Impact of Modern Lifestyle on Human Health

Lifestyle maybe a manner applied by individuals, groups, and nations, and is made with specific geographical, political, economic, cultural and spiritual text. 
Lifestyle is referred to like the characteristics of the residents of a locality at a particular time and place. It includes day-to-day behaviors and functions of people in activities, jobs, fun, and diet.

In recent decades, lifestyle as a crucial factor of health has become a very interesting topic among the researchers because 60 percent of related factors to quality of life and individual health are correlated to the human lifestyle. 

Millions of people in the world follow an unhealthy lifestyle; therefore, they have to face illness, disability, and even death. 
Many critical issues like joint and skeletal problems, metabolic diseases, overweight, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, violence and so on, may be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. 
The connection between lifestyle and health ought to be extremely considered.

Today, wide changes have occurred within the lifetime of all individuals.  Unhealthy diet, malnutrition, alcohol consuming, smoking, drug abuse, stress, anxiety and so on, are the demonstrations of an unhealthy lifestyle that they are used as an effective form of lifestyle. 

Apart from this, citizens have to face new challenges in their lives. For example, rising new technologies within the Internet and virtual communication networks, take our world to major challenges which lead people to physical and mental health problems. The challenge is the misuse and excessive use of technology.

Therefore, according to the current studies, it may be aforementioned that: lifestyle has a considerable effect on human physical and mental health. 

There are completely different types of these effects. In some ethnicities, consanguinity or cognition is a major form of lifestyle that may cause genetic diseases. 
Improvement in this unhealthy lifestyle is a preventive factor to reduce the rate of genetic disorders. 

In some countries, the misuse or overuse of medicine may be a major unhealthy lifestyle. Whereas self-medication like antibiotics has a negative impact on the immune system. 

If the person is affected by any type of infection, then antibiotics won't be effective in the treatment. 
Overall, 10 percent of self-medicated people may experience serious complications such as drug resistance. Occasionally drug allergy is so serious that it can cause death.




Impact of Modern Technology on Human Health

Technology may have an oversized impact on users' physical and mental health. 
Being too connected will cause psychological problems like the distraction, expectation of instant gratification, narcissism, and even depression. 
In addition to affecting the psychological state of users, the use of technology may also have negative effects on physical health causing vision issues, neck strain, and hearing loss.

Advanced technology facilitates the lifetime of individuals. Misuse of technology could lead to unpleasant consequences. 
For instance, using a Smartphone, computer, and other devices up to midnight could impact the pattern of sleep and it may cause sleep disturbance. 
Addiction to use mobile phones or the internet is expounded on depression symptoms.

These days, people have become so obsessed with technology and social media that the idea of leaving any of them can be very uncomfortable. 
Therefore, the rates of technology and social media usage are rapidly climbing. 
Facebook and Instagram alone claim the combined monthly user base of two billion people all over the world. 
Text messaging and social media have become an integral part of how people interact with their social pages or groups. 
In fact, for several teenagers and young adults, communicating via social media and text messaging is now more likely than personal interactions.


The technology is so ubiquitous that sometimes it seems impossible to cross without it.
 According to the report of the American Psychological Association on stress, in the United States of America, 99 % of adults have electronic devices; 86 % own computers, 74 % have a Smartphone and 55 % own a tablet. This could be an indication of empowerment and prosperity, however, there's additionally a flip side to it. 
We can say that all these technological advances and scientific innovations have robbed us of our tranquility and inner peace.

How can the Modern Lifestyle Affect Our Health?

modern lifestyle
How modern lifestyle affects our physical and mental health

Digital Cloud and Well-Being

Many people strongly agree that separating or taking a digital detox from time to time is very vital for psychological state or mental health, in fact; only 28% of these people switch off from technology periodically. 
Interactions and conversations on social media networks can have a significant impact on the well-being and satisfaction of the individual. 

Many studies have shown that spending more time on social media is related to the increased risk of loneliness, depression, and anxiety, which raises the question: Are the miserable and unhappy people using social media, or does the use of social media affects human happiness? 

Happiness
The relationship contradiction finds that most people, on average, are less popular on social media than their friends, which can lead to being less joyous and less happy. 

As far as we know, it has never been antecedently shown that the users of social media networks, in general, are less popular than their friends but they are less happy. 
This study indicates that happiness is linked to popularity, as well as that the majority of people on social media networks are not as happy as their friends because of this relationship between friendship and popularity.

Overall, the study report has shown that social media users may face increased levels of social dissatisfaction and unhappiness or grief as a result of comparing to popularity and happiness to that of their friends. 
The social media users who are happy in their lives can think that their friends are more popular and a bit happier than them - and the unhappy social media users are likely to have unhappy friends who still seem more popular and happier than they are in general.

Isolation
Psychological state or mental health may also be affected by the time spent on social media. 
The longer that adults from the age of 19 to 32 use social media networks, it is more likely to become socially isolated. 
It can be a great challenge to analyze such issues because psychological problems and social isolation are at pandemic levels among young adults. 
Modern life goes to divide us instead of bringing us together. While it seems that social networks offer opportunities to fill social voids, however, many researchers say that it cannot be the solution for which people were hoping in the beginning.

Depression
The study report shows that spending over time on social media is related to depression among young adults. 
Compared to people who check their emails and social media accounts less often, constant checkers were 2.8 times more likely to develop depression, fatigue, and obesity.

People do not have to leave social media completely; just changing their behavior on social networking sites and sometimes taking a break can help lift their spirits. 

According to the study report ‘lurking’ on Facebook can cause negative emotions and feelings. However, actively connecting with close friends on the bright side, can actually increase the feeling of well-being, whether in real life or on Facebook and other sites.



The emergence of the 'constant checker'
Constantly checking electronic devices linked to higher stress levels
The technological advances and social media developments of the past decade have created the "constant checker." 

A constant checker could be a person who checks emails, texts, and social media accounts constantly, almost obsessively. 
Being perpetually or endlessly connected during this approach has been linked with higher stress levels. 
Moreover, 18% of people have specified technology use as a prominent source of stress.

The stress level among the constant checkers is quite high among those who are not often associated with technology and social media. 
For example, 43% of the constant checkers are concerned about the impact of social media on their physical and psychological state, compared with 26% of non-constant checkers.

In addition, as a result of technology, a lot of constant checkers than non-constant checkers feel that they are separated from their families, even if they are in the same room, and over one-third of constant checkers say that they're unlikely to meet with friends and family members due to social media engagement.

Video gaming and aggression
Video games for kids are other sources of engagement that have got a bad reputation; some research report suggests a connection between video games and violence. However, no such link has been noticed between movies and video games, and aggression in real-life violence.

To dedicate the problem of reducing crime, there is a number of resources or meditation in society. 
There is also a risk of identifying the incorrect downside such as media violence might distract society from a lot of pressing issues like poverty, impoverishment, education, professional inequalities or vocational disparities and psychological state.

The analysis report shows that while four hours playing video games can trigger symptoms of depression in teenagers, the continuous use of social media and instant messaging can reduce these symptoms in some people. 
Whereas playing video games for four hours daily may be worrisome behavior, not everybody who does it is at risk of developing symptoms of depression, addiction or anxiety.

If the teenagers are sitting around playing games with their friends or chatting frequently with their friends online, this might be part of a general development pattern or traditional biological process. 
Despite the potential risks to a psychological state, trends in the last decade show that the use of technology and social media is increasing, therefore these issues don't seem to disappear as soon as possible, and there is no possibility of changing habits.




How can Parents Manage and Limit the Child's Screen Time?

Parents often try to balance their child's screen time, for this, they may be suffering from many difficulties trying to limit family digital connections. 
The importance of parental technical surveillance has been enhanced by evidence such as the connection between handheld screen time and speech delay in young children, the collaboration between Smartphone-screen and low sleep quality and the link between the mobile phone and internet addiction and depression or anxiety among college-age students.

However, screen time for children is not bad at all. Evidence that connects the relationship between screen time and well-being is also weak at the highest level of attachment. 

Different types of screens are rapidly embedded in daily life, whether they include education, socialization, individual organization, and work. 
Setting a narrow border on-screen time might not continue with the innumerable ways in which the screen has become a necessary part of fashionable life. 
Medium screen usage has no effect on the welfare of teenagers. Only a small collaboration between the level of excessive screen time and level of teenage depression has a physical and mental impact.

Millions of people in the world have to face psychological distress and may fail to obtain or get help from mental health services. 
Considering this inequality among the need and accessibility of services, Smartphone applications might facilitate to supply cheap and fascinating treatment ways.

Conclusion
Modern life can enhance the risk of some physical and mental health issues, and it is very difficult to live with such psychological conditions and any delay in treatment may increase the symptoms of diseases but trying to balance online and real-world social relationships, thinking positive, can help keep our mental health or psychological state in check. They can also be cured with appropriate treatment. 
 In regard to each factor, systematic planning at the micro and macro level can provide a social and individual healthy lifestyle.


Journal Reference:


Author: Mahtab Alam Quddusi


The Scientific World

The Scientific World is a Scientific and Technical Information Network that provides readers with informative & educational blogs and articles. Site Admin: Mahtab Alam Quddusi - Blogger, writer and digital publisher.

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