Email Dependence Is Bad For Your Health

Don’t have time to read SportsGeezer because you just got an email? That’s a bad sign, according to researchers at the University of California at Irvine. Researchers at the school attached heart rate sensors to workers in a suburban office, and divided the users into two groups; one with email, one deprived. A university news release reports that people who read email were found to work in a steady “high alert” state, with more constant heart rates. Those removed from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates, a healthier way to live. One of the biggest problems doing the study, the researchers said, was recruiting people to go without email, even for a short time, but once the workers tried email free time, they loved it, and were much happier to interact in person. The researchers report that getting up and walking to someone’s desk to talk to someone, rather than sending an email, offered physical relief from office stress, a good thing. Other research has shown that people with steady “high alert” heart rates have more cortisol, a hormone linked to stress, a bad thing. Read more from the UC at Irvine.