With modern generations often being depicted staring at their smartphones while sitting next to their friends, it can seem strange to believe that technology can be beneficial for your social wellbeing. The cliché of technology destroying social bridges between people and isolating individuals may not be as real as one thinks. Indeed, there are situations where relying on technology, and specifically on the Internet — from your faithful smartphone or your computer — can help you to improve your life, your health and your participation in the community. As surprising as it might sound, it’s time to ignore the haters and to remind yourself of the greatness of a tech life. To paraphrase a well-known meme: they see me tech healing; they’re hating. But that would be their problem because tech is making you a better person. Here’s why:
Technology To Clear Your Mind
If you are an active member of social media platforms, you have probably come across advertisements for online meditation facilities. Did you realize that you could meditate directly with your phone in hand? It is the promise of several apps. From Headspace to GPS for the Soul, they are designed to help you free your mind from the clutter that you accumulate throughout the day and enable you to focus on your inner self. More and more millennials on the planet are becoming aware of the need to clear their mind and to get rid of the worries, negative feelings and confusion that weigh them down. And, it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone: it works. The modern generation is learning how to de-stress and enjoy life to the fullest, all of it with a phone in hand.
Technology To Find Emotional Support
Dealing with personal issues is already difficult under normal circumstances. But it can be made even worse when you are trying to work at the same time. Despite what the saying recommends, nobody is successful at keeping work and personal life separate. That’s exactly why there is a need for a tech solution that provides a form of employee assistance programme, that is a platform where an employee can express his or her issues openly. Whether it is a phone call with a qualified and independent advisor or an app that guides employees through difficult times, technology has the potential to provide solid emotional support to those who need it most.
Technology To Find Love
More and more adults find themselves single. It’s easy to understand why. Professional life presents a severe obstacle to finding your soulmate. Consequently, dating apps have become something of a trend because they enable you to meet new people. What you may not know, though, is that more and more dating apps lead people to long-term relationships. Indeed, you can forget the one-night-stand cliché; dating apps work for the romantic souls too. Match and OkCupid are currently the most successful apps for serious relationships, with up to a third of users reporting that they’ve had relationships lasting longer than six months. These are pretty positive results for a market that people didn’t take seriously only a few years ago.
Technology To Be An Engaged Citizen
While you are surely aware of the recent hacking issues in large administrative institutions, there is no doubt that you can accomplish some of your citizen’s duties online. For a start, you are allowed to register to vote online, which makes your life a lot easier. Online voting is not currently allowed, due to the fear of hacking, but you can be sure that this will be reviewed once the system is more secure. One of the key issues about voting is that it requires your time and your physical presence at the time of the vote. Switching to an online system would require no more than a few clicks for you to vote. Surely, that is going to see a significant drop in the absenteeism rate!
Technology To Soothe Lasting Mental Health Issues
Have you ever thought of technology as a therapeutic tool? We don’t mean video games, but you’re not far from the truth. Chris Brewin, Professor of Clinical Psychology at University College London, has run a therapy experience with virtual reality. Using VR units, he’s put patients with depression into a situation where they found themselves showing compassion to a crying child. Then he reversed the situation and let the patients play with the child while an adult avatar repeated the previous compassion. The results were impressive: patients saw a rapid reduction in depression levels. Similar experiments were done with PTSD patients and heavy smokers. They were hugely successful, proving that tech can heal your mind.
