Page 73 - Mediterraneo e dintorni - 2-2020

tecnostRess
ecnostress is a new form of psychophy-
Tsical malaise. In 2007 it was included
in the list of professional diseases. What
is it about? It is a condition linked to the
excessive and prolonged use of technolo-
gy: PCs, smartphones, note books and
tablets. Such abuse can cause several
symptoms such as anxiety, nervou-
sness, hyper-ideation insomnia (i.e.
difficulty clearing your mind and rela-
xing), headache and fatigue. However,
tecnostress does not only concern those
professional categories for which these
tools are essential for the exercise of the
profession (for example call center ope-
rators), but to a certain extent it affects
us all now. The smartphone in particu-
lar seems to be the tool that most deter-
mines tecnostress. In fact, a central ele-
ment of this new malaise is the anxiety of
being constantly connected: even in our
free time or on vacation we continuously
receive emails, which can concern our
work, or our duties. The same happens
while we are having dinner at home or
maybe with friends, we are never “alo-
anticipatoria è ciò durante il sonno ne” with our interlocutors in flesh and
che ci rende spesso an- o mentre decidiamo blood, but we continue to receive calls
cora più insicuri e fragili e che ci di essere “off”. Queste semplici and write messages and chats, which
bring our attention elsewhere and which
ha reso dipendenti da un ogget- azioni sono gesti molto impor- make our involvement in relationships
to che fino a qualche decennio fa tanti che dobbiamo ricominciare increasingly intermittent and weak. A
non faceva parte del nostro quo- a svolgere per lenire il malessere phenomenon widespread among young
tidiano. psicofisico derivante dal tecno- people, but also among the less young,
Pur apprezzando l’utilità della stress. Possiamo iniziare da po- which is a sign of a compulsive need to
always be available. For most people it is
tecnologia e la semplificazione chi momenti al giorno, durante i unthinkable to leave the house without
di molti aspetti della nostra vita quali decidere di lasciare i nostri their smartphone and if accidentally it is
dobbiamo fare i conti con il ro- apparecchi elettronici relegati forgotten this can generate anticipatory
vescio della medaglia. Questo ci in una stanza o nell’armadietto anxiety reactions: we face catastrophic
chiama a reimparare noi per pri- della palestra, rinunciando alla scenarios, difficult situations in which
we can find ourselves without having
mi e ad insegnare ai più giovani necessità di averli sempre sotto the opportunity to make a phone call, to
la capacità di “staccare la spina” controllo. Sostituendo quindi check emails or manage the unexpected.
e di trascorrere dal tempo da soli, alla necessità compulsiva una This anticipatory anxiety is what often
disconnessi, di dedicarci piena- scelta responsabile che sarà utile makes us even more insecure and fragile
mente a chi abbiamo di fronte, per il nostro benessere psicofisi- and which has made us dependent on an
object that until a few decades ago was
di spegnere i nostri dispositivi co e per la riduzione dello stress. not part of our daily lives. While appre-
ciating the usefulness of technology and
the simplification of many aspects of our
lives, we have to deal with the downside.
We must learn first to then teach young
people the ability to “unplug” and spend
time alone, disconnected, to dedicate
ourselves fully to those in front of us,
to turn off our devices during sleep or
while we decide to be “off”. These sim-
ple actions are very important gestures
that we must start again to alleviate the
psychophysical malaise deriving from
tecnostress. We can start from a few mo-
ments a day, during which we decide to
leave our electronic devices confined to a
room or in the gym locker, giving up the
need to always have them under control.
Thus replacing compulsive necessity
with a responsible choice that will be
useful for our psychophysical well-being
and for the reduction of stress.

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