Wellness in a Digital Society

The topic of Wellness has received increasing attention over the last decade. Whether prompted by societal concern for health and wellness in general, or the growing awareness of the troubling incidence of suicide and depression, especially among the youth. Health and wellness are terms that are often interchanged, but their origins and meanings are different.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is referred to as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. According to the National Wellness Institute, wellness is considered, “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence”.

What does Wellness entail?

Wellness is actively and deliberately making choices to better yourself as a whole and it focuses on preventative measures rather than reactive measures, such as exercise, nutrition, mindfulness etc. Several key areas of your lifestyle are considered dimensions of overall Wellness, they are; emotional, occupational, intellectual, environmental, financial, spiritual, physical and social. Any person must aim to achieve a balance in all areas of Wellness.

Financial means living within your means and learning to manage your finances, occupational means the ability to get personal fulfilment in our jobs, social means to build personal relationships with others and spiritual means the ability to find meaning or purpose in life events. Wellness goes beyond diets and nutrition, it examines all aspects affecting a person’s well-being.

Risks to Wellness in a digital society

There are many threats targeted towards our well-being however the most constantly arising threat to our wellbeing is the use of digital technology. Most half of the world is connected to the internet and in countries that are members of the OECD, almost everyone is online. Studies show that we touch our smartphones on an average of 2500 per day.

Our smartphones drain our cognitive ability even if our devices are set on silent, switched off or placed in another away from us. People’s cognitive capabilities are challenged in multiple ways including their capacity for analytical thinking, memory, focus, creativity and mental resilience.

While connected to the internet, we use many apps that claim they are free but there is no such thing as a free app. Just because we are not paying as a form of money doesn’t mean we are not paying. In this digital era, data is currency, it has value, therefore, we pay in a form of our personal data. This is a greater risk to our well-being, therefore we need to be careful when sharing personal data online.

The quality of our sleep has deteriorated over the past year, mainly due to the use of technology over our bedtime. Poor sleeping quality has a long-term negative effect on our wellbeing. The bright light from our devices may impact our eyesight as we grow older. The use of technology during bedtime increases alertness which will lead to limited sleep duration and will affect your productivity during the day.

Digital and technology tools that enhance Wellness

As the rapid take-up of digital technologies continues, it is crucial to adopt an approach that minimizes the risks without restricting the considerable opportunities and benefits of digital technologies.

Tide is a health and productivity app, it offers the best focus timer with natural white noise. It has four main modes: Focus, Sleep, Meditation and Breath. The app blocks any distracting website in Immersive mode, helping you stay on target and customize focus and break time at your desire. Tide enhances your wellness by helping you track your sleep duration where you can see whether you are getting enough sleep.

NordVPN is a software application that provides wide-ranging security solutions, it works by encrypting all the traffic flowing to and from your device. This process hides your digital footprint and keeps it away from nosy surveillance agencies, hackers and other intrusive bodies that want to spy on web activity. NordVPN enhances wellness by protecting personal data.