In 2020, adolescents and adults who do not own a cell phone are scarce. It's a fact: our generation is ultra-connected. But did you know that our phones can literally make us sick? According to American professor Cynthia Bulik, a new disease directly linked to our way of life has appeared in recent years: the nausea of the scroll. Explanations.
In the second quarter of 2020 alone, more than 284 million mobile phones were sold worldwide, reports the Canalys institute. A market that continues to break all records. Being permanently connected has become a necessity for some, an addiction for others. However, this (bad) habit can have real consequences on our health. American professor Cynthia Bulik told Psychology Today magazine that she had detected a new disease “2.0”: the nausea of the scroll.
“The nausea of the scroll”, what is it?
This disease strongly resembles that of motion sickness. It manifests itself by uneasiness and a feeling of disorientation. According to Tech Times magazine, “scroll nausea” can result in the following symptoms: headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion, need to sit down a bit, but also an eye migraine. This syndrome would have "strong and lasting" consequences, according to the New York Times.
Why?
In digital jargon, “scroll” means to scroll vertically through the content of a web page on your phone using your finger. By doing this, our body remains motionless, while our eyes are called upon from all sides: videos, pages, photos, gifs ... It is this discrepancy between bodily stillness and visual mobility that creates a form of cognitive dissonance. . According to psychologist Cyriel Diels, interviewed by The New York Times, it is a “natural response to an artificial environment”.
A few tips
To protect yourself against the “nausea of the scroll”, the easiest way is still to move away from your laptop as much as possible, but it is also the most radical and the most restrictive solution. Why not start by deactivating notifications and putting your mobile phone in silent mode, or even in airplane mode? As Grazia magazine points out, there is also a “reduce movement” box in the settings of some phones. You can also decrease the brightness of your screen and increase the font size. Finally, if you are using a laptop computer, use the arrow keys and not the mouse to scroll through the information.
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