Long hours on screen cause cyber sickness

It is a form of fatigue where vision is constantly stressed

Symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression are observed in cybersickness. Physical features noted are nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Withdrawal symptoms after being put off the screen time begins as early as six hours. There is a strong urge seen to get back to the screen and find out what is happening. This is because the dopamine in the brain creates a strong urge.

Therapy and medications are the best methods to deal these symptoms. It is becoming very important to stress on cognitive skill building to ensure the person gets results.

Ensuring that there is a screen time set before handing over the mobile phone to the child is very important.

Make weekends an off-screen time so that the body sensory system can relax.

HYDERABAD, OCT. 28

Cyber sickness is a subtype of motion sickness, according to a study published in the Journal of

Applied Physiology where it was found that the sensory of vision stimulated cyber sickness.

In cyber sickness, it is visual fatigue and the coordination of the visual sense with other senses which leads to the problem.

In motion sickness, the vestibular stimuli induce the reaction in the body.

A recent research study in Journal of Applied

Physiology states that cyber sickness is a subtype of motion sickness and must be evaluated along with it.

Cyber sickness emerges from visual fatigue where the vision sense is constantly exposed and is stressed.

The visual stress in present times is due to longer duration of screen time without taking proper rest.

Psychiatrist Dr Naresh Vadlamani explained, “Cyber sickness leads to behavioural changes in the person where they view aspects according to the screen. Hence it is believed that everything will be very fast, quick and jazzy. But that is not the reality. People who suffer from these behavioural issues can be teenagers and adults. It leads to anxiety, frustration and depression.”

The physical effects of addiction to screen time are dizziness, nausea and also a problem concentrating.

It has been found that these people are able to concentrate only on the screen and cannot do without it.

This can be quite a challenge as in the real world their cognitive skills are not functioning as is required.

Temporary headache is the most common complaint and symptom to watch out for. Dr Deepika Sirineni, a consultant neurologist at Apollo Hospitals, says a headache is “a signal from the brain that it is tired as it is exposed to too much of screen time. This shows that it's time to stop and that the brain requires rest. But the reverse, in terms of withdrawal symptoms, is also noted where there is an urge to go back to the device.”

Experts state that as the sensory system and also cognitive skills of the individual are involved, it becomes a prolonged session of therapy and medication.

A senior physiatrist on condition of anonymity says, “We get a lot of parents coming with children from class 9 to 12 and the common complaint is too much of screen time and not able to concentrate on studies. The parents are seeking help because in many cases the cognitive skills of the student are affected. They are very good when they are working on the screen but when it comes to an offscreen session their performance is not as required.”

While this is the most vulnerable group, limiting screen time of children on mobile phones is being stressed.

Monitoring your child's online accounts is also important to ensure that only limited information is shared.