Screen apnea - what is it and what to do?

Have you heard of screen apnea? It comes from the English “screen apnea” and is becoming more common. The term “apnea” means voluntary or involuntary interruption of airflow to the lungs. Screen apnea is the interruption of breathing while you are in front of a screen and, according to various studies, you are doing it right now! 80% of people hold their breath or breathe poorly when sitting in front of their monitor. Screen apnea prevents you from breathing properly, which can cause exhaustion, anxiety, and a number of stress-related illnesses and even hinder professional performance.

Most people spend an average of ten hours a day sitting, whether in a car, on the sofa, or in front of a screen. And the human body was not designed to be in that inactive position for such long periods of time. Doing so can decrease life expectancy, as it increases the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases by 85%. Adding to this the consequences of screen apnea, it creates a worrying scenario.

In 2007, Linda Stone, an American writer and consultant, noticed that as soon as she started working on her laptop, she began to breathe less or hold her breath. When she started paying attention over the following days, she realized that it was a recurring situation. However, as soon as she got up and moved around a bit, her breathing became completely different.

During a seven-month observation period, Stone tested around 200 people in her dining room, using a device that measures pulse and heart rate variability. While conducting her research, she spoke with scholars, clinicians, psychologists, and neuroscientists to better understand what happens to our physiology when we hold our breath. At the end of her study, Linda Stone named this phenomenon email apnea or screen apnea - a temporary interruption of breathing or shallow breathing when in front of screens.

This study gave rise to several researches on the subject, which confirmed what Stone had concluded: about 80% of people suffer from screen apnea and the remaining 20% who do not present the same symptoms are individuals who, at some point in their lives, learned breathing techniques, such as musicians, dancers, pilots, or high-performance athletes.

There are some tips to reduce the impact of screen apnea and we leave some of them here:

1- Pay attention to your breathing

2- Avoid sitting for many hours in a row

3 - Do physical exercise

4 - To have a chair with a back - the more comfortable, the better

5 - Take frequent breaks

6 - Avoid using the mobile phone or another screen during those breaks

The ideal will be to take several breaks during the day and do physical exercise. And to improve your exercise experience, we have a fundamental accessory in store: headphones and earphones at low prices. Visit our page of Headphones and choose yours now.