The motivation to write these lines was born in one of the Mental Health Aid certification sessions that he currently carried out in Rhode Island with Master Raúl Mickle who has a very human gift of transmitting his knowledge.
One of the topics that he recently addressed is the relationship we have built with screens and the way in which they are silently stealing our lives.
It did not take a long debate to understand that this was not a theoretical concern. It was about us, all of us, at different levels and dimensions, it has taken over us in our routines.
From that automatic gesture of looking for the phone there is barely a second of silence. Of the need to review a notification, even if we are talking to someone. Of that strange tiredness of reaching the end of the day with a saturated mind and a heart, many times, more empty than accompanied.
We live in a time when being connected seems synonymous with being present, but are we really? We remain available for everything and attentive to everyone, but increasingly distant from ourselves.
The phone vibrates and we come. The screen lights up and we respond. The network is updated and we feel the obligation not to be left behind. Thus, it has become a way of dependence which is difficult for us to accept, because it has been normalized by custom.
Within this reality, one of the most widespread phenomena is the well-known FOMOfor its acronym in English of fear of missing out: the fear of missing out.
Although this feeling is not new, the social networks They have intensified it like never before. It is a constant showcase of moments selected, filtered and arranged to be admired. News and scenarios that go viral and many are afraid of missing a topic.
From the psychologythis pattern has a clear explanation. The screensand especially networks, often work through intermittent rewards.
We don’t always find something important when we check our phone, but sometimes we do: a message, a reaction, a validation, a novelty. And that uncertainty is precisely what hooks you.
The brain learns to wait for the next small reward, and so it comes back again and again. It is not a coincidence; It is a reinforced habit.
consequences
The consequences, however, are deeply human. Attention is fragmented, decreases the quality of restthe real conversation is impoverished.
Other effects also resurface: mental fatigueirritability, need for constant stimulation, difficulty tolerating boredom and that anticipatory anxiety that makes us feel that something important could be happening at any moment, just out of our sight.
Added to this is the call nomophobia: the disproportionate fear of being left without a phone, without a battery or without a connection.
It has never been so difficult to sustain a true presence. We write to each other more, but sometimes we listen to each other less. We look at more screens and fewer faces. And barely with the eyes, we often lose sensitivity to what is happening nearby.
Changing this relationship is not as simple as turning off your phone for a few hours. The compulsive use of screens not only responds to entertainment; Many times it serves to cover the silence, distract sadness, avoid discomfort or escape from emptiness. Therefore, stopping looking at the screen sometimes means rediscovering emotions that we had learned to avoid.
Technology is essential for life. We obtain information, illustrate, bring us closer, update us, facilitate and accompany. The problem begins when they take the place of all the other factors that we also require: rest, pause, thought, conversation, human contact.
The task, then, is not to give up the digital world, but to regain control over our habits and return everything to its place.
