digital detox<\/a> \u2013 setting aside a period of time to refrain from using electronic devices \u2013 was like hitting the \u201creset button\u201d. <\/p>\nBenefits include lowering stress and anxiety levels, and improved sleep. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives our whole nervous system a break,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go on a detox, you don\u2019t have the urge to pick up your phone, check social media, or answer texts. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s not there we can connect on a deeper level … people have better interpersonal relationships.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Anxiety NZ and Mental Health Foundation NZ, spending too much time online can have a negative impact on people\u2019s mental and physical health.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr]()
Dr Lena Waizenegger said AI has changed the way people use technology. Photo \/ 123rf <\/p>\n
Physical issues include eye strain, headaches, neck pain and obesity, while mental health problems include anxiety, depression, and sleep disruption. <\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s Google, AI, or scouring social media and phone apps, screentime causes \u201can immediate dopamine hit\u201d, Waizenegger said. <\/p>\n
A dopamine hit is a sudden surge of the brain chemical dopamine that causes an intense feeling of pleasure and motivation, which reinforces the behaviour and makes you want to repeat it. <\/p>\n
Excessive screen time, particularly social media and gaming, can trigger repeated, intense dopamine surges, creating a cycle of reward-seeking similar to drug or alcohol addiction. <\/p>\n
Kerikeri-based counsellor Christine Macfarlane, from MindfulMe, said too much screentime could lead to a lack of creativity. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we go digital all the time, we lose our imagination and our ability to dream. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe lose a sense of our relationship with our internal self … like any addiction it\u2019s an instant fix.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Kerikeri-based]()
Kerikeri-based counsellor Christine Macfarlane said too much screentime could lead to a lack of creativity. Photo \/ Jenny Ling<\/p>\n
Macfarlane said school counsellors were reporting that children and young people were finding it increasingly difficult to manage their emotions. <\/p>\n
Often, parents looked for immediate solutions such as antidepressants, or anti-anxiety medications for their kids, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s normal human behaviour to be up and down. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re bored, we create stuff in our mind, we become imaginative and creative, you\u2019re looking at the world in a different way. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re busy online with a device, we\u2019re not present in our body. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t get it [a dopamine hit] straight away, and we\u2019re noticing this with younger children, they\u2019ll go into a hole quickly and need something to immediately fix it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Macfarlane suggests people \u201cstop and breathe\u201d before reaching for their phones. <\/p>\n
\u201cReset in your body and ask yourself what could I do differently? <\/p>\n
\u201cTry something different and learn something new like crafting or crocheting, so you become more mindful of creating things. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat way, we\u2019re using our brain in a different way.\u201d <\/p>\n
Apart from cold-turkey detoxes, Waizenegger recommends \u201ccreating healthy digital patterns\u201d in daily life. <\/p>\n
This could include switching off notifications, unfollowing negative people or pages, unsubscribing from newsletters and deleting apps that are no longer needed, she said. <\/p>\n
It was important to set boundaries around technology, such as not having phones at the dinner table and setting time limits for social media scrolling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are things that are do-able and integrate the commitments we have in our daily lives,\u201d Waizenegger said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have family and community commitments where we need technology. <\/p>\n
\u201cBe mindful of how you use it.\u201d <\/p>\n
HOW TO DIGITAL DETOX THIS SUMMER <\/p>\n
Set a clear time frame and let friends and family know what you\u2019re doing. Put your phone away at the dinner table or while out with friends and family. Mute notifications. Turn off the phone one hour before bed. Leave your phone at home when out for a walk. Putting your phone on airplane or do not disturb mode \u2013 or in another room. Visit a friend rather than texting or messaging. <\/p>\n
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe use AI as a personal assistant; it can create text, images and video content, and craft our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[365,9556,4496,138,98320,1651,6440,5658,2082,6491,134,13640,9557,185,6187,1362,1885,130,111,139,69,128763,1435,103127,1436,5659,131,9350,4276],"class_list":["post-212140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-ai","tag-artificial","tag-attempt","tag-business","tag-detox","tag-digital","tag-ever","tag-experts","tag-for","tag-frantic","tag-health","tag-important","tag-intelligence","tag-is","tag-lives","tag-made","tag-mental","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overload","tag-rapid","tag-reset","tag-rise","tag-say","tag-than","tag-vital","tag-why"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}