Health authorities say that in the COVID-19 pandemic, social connections should be done through online video conferencing applications such as Zoom and Skype. But the platforms’ overuse is leading health professionals to warn of “Zoom fatigue.”
Zoom saw a 535% rise in daily traffic during the month of March as users connected with one another for not only work situations and distance learning during the day, but also for keeping in touch with friends and relatives.
From finance meetings with company executives between far-flung locales to virtual dance parties and online dinner gatherings, Zoom has become so popular that users who are social distancing may not realize they have not stopped looking at a computer screen while connecting to the rest of their own world.
Dr. Amanda Fialk, a licensed independent clinical social worker who works with young adults ages 18–35 at a treatment community known as The Dorm, thinks so.
“What’s happening is that people are spending their whole day at work at a computer screen interacting, doing their day-to-day job, and they’re not going home from work, but they’re stopping work while they’re at home,” Fialk told the Washington Examiner. “And then, they are engaging in all of their social interactions via Zoom.”
Fialk said limiting time online is important.
“Sitting at a computer screen day in and day out and having all of your interactions happening with a screen in between you and the person that you’re interacting with is exhausting,” Fialk said. “It is mentally draining, it’s emotionally draining, and it can be physically draining — just the strain on your eyes on your neck and on your back.”
Long before “social distancing” and “stay at home” orders were part of daily life around the world, experts cautioned that the overuse of online technology could lead to what is known as “digital dementia.”
Fialk, who uses Zoom with clients at The Dorm, recommends to her own staff to schedule 15-minute breaks from the computer during the day.
“Go for a 15-minute walk, or do a 10-minute meditation, or do yoga or dance — just move your body in some way, shape, or form really helps with combating and mitigating the fatigue,” she said. “As mental health providers, we need to be taking care of ourselves. Because if we’re not, we’re not going to be able to take care of our clients.”
