Wearable devices like smartwatches can cause anxiety, experts say

Nowadays, in the fitness-obsessed world, it is not an uncommon sight to see people looking repetitively at their smartwatches to meet their desired step target/burn calories etc, without knowing that this can trigger anxiety, experts said on Saturday.

Wearable devices, particularly medical-grade ones, have grown in popularity, especially among the younger generation who want to stay informed about their health.

And to treat the body like a temple is certainly a noble thing to do, but doing it in extremes proves counter-effective, as Oscar Wilde said, that whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it often has a noble motive.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on July 16, 2024, found that patients with irregular heartbeat or atrial fibrillation (AF) used a wearable device (known as "Wearables").

Wearable users reported significantly higher rates of symptom monitoring, preoccupation, and increased treatment concerns.

As much as 20 per cent of wearable users experienced anxiety, prompting them to contact their doctors in response to irregular rhythm notifications.

These individuals then underwent significantly more ECGs, echocardiograms/transesophageal echocardiograms, and AF ablation (an invasive procedure to burn electrical pathways).

Wearable devices like Apple Watch and Fitbit are popular for monitoring health. Still, they can also cause anxiety in users due to the unfiltered information they provide, as many lack the knowledge or perspective to interpret it.

"Wearable devices, though an attractive option for monitoring our health, however, are also a source of enhanced anxiety in some of the users. The use of medical-grade wearable devices like the Apple Watch and other brands like Fitbit etc have become a rage, especially in the younger generation eager to know it all without realising the side effects of this unfiltered deluge of information. Most individuals don't have the knowledge or right perspective to interpret the data these machines are vomiting out," Vinayak Agrawal, Senior Director and Head, Non-Invasive Cardiology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, told IANS.

Heart rate variability is a common concern, leading to panic reactions and high blood pressure.

Hypersensitive users may experience panic attacks, leading to medical advice or emergency procedures, such as ECG, ECHO, Holter, and CT coronary angiograms, which encourage hypochondriac-like behaviours.

"The commonest query is the extremes of heart rate variability. Is it too low or why is it 150 beats per minute… am I going to have a stroke or heart failure etc? These panic reactions are common among some users who tend to be hypersensitive about their health issues. These mini-panic attacks then lead invariably to high blood pressure and heart rate readings eventually forcing these individuals to seek medical opinion or rush to emergency and undergo additional high-end tests like ECG, ECHO, Holter and CT coronary angiograms etc," said Agrawal.

The devices aren't wrong, but their excessive use is, knowledge should have perspective too, a word of warning as per the experts.