Obsessed with...your laptop

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: Come on, switch off your laptop.” “Stop walking about with that phone stuck in your ear.” Aren’t these regular chastisements that we all get to hear? Student, business professional, stay-at-home moms, everyone is surrounded by gadgets. So whether you are on your treadmill, washing your clothes in the machine, cooking in the microwave for a week and then storing it in the refrigerator, it’s gadgets galore for everyone. But if “comfort” is the catchword in all of this, does it mean we are becoming slaves of automation?

Medical science and research show that there have been serious effects of technical gadgets on people. Dr Amit Bhargava, consultant oncologist, Max Healthcare is of the opinion that excessive use of gadgets result in a lot of health problems.

“Acoustic Neuroma is one of the malignant effects of using mobiles limitlessly. In this, a tumour develops in the hearing nerve that affects the brain and might result in a growth there too,” he says.

Cell phones and laptops are an evil if not used properly. While Bhargava agrees that keeping pace with technical advancement is important, he regrets that improper use of these machines interferes with nature adversely.

We use technical gadgets in order to avoid fatigue, to save time and to lower work pressures. Ironically, “working on the computer takes away a lot of energy, resulting in headache, redness of the eyes and also dry eyes,” say Dr Sanjeev Gupta, senior eye specialist, Umkal Hospital, Gurgaon. Staring continuously at the screen of the computer reduces the number of blinks that the eye requires. This causes loss of fluids, which help keep the eyes lubricated.

Dr Rachna Singh, consultant, holistic medicine and lifestyle expert, Artemis Hospital says: “Addiction to technical gadgets results in imbalance in our lifestyle and results in dysfunctionality at work, within ones own self and also at home. Too much time spent on gizmos results in less sleep and sometimes critical health problems.” Behavioural abnormalities like irritation, angry outbursts, and also throwing tantrums are some of the emotional imbalances. At the workplace too, people tend to feel de-motivated and often are unable to coordinate things at the critical hour.

So are technical gadgets a boon or a bane?