HEALTH TRACKING: HELPFUL OR AN ANXIETY TRIGGER?

With the new year comes many health-focused resolutions and goals. And in our modern era, there are seemingly a million and one technologies that claim to support your work toward these goals. Wearables, apps, and at-home tests abound to give you data about your sleep, nutrition, vital signs, hormones, and more. Is all this data actually good for us though? Here’s what to think about.

How Health Tracking Can Make Us Anxious

In a best-case scenario, health tracking has benefits, like empowering people with information that will support them in making health decisions, allowing early detection of potential health issues, and helping in management of chronic health conditions. Tools and devices that are on the market presently, however, can offer their users a huge amount of data. Without context and appropriate medical expertise, this data can sometimes create alarm, even when it isn’t concerning.

For instance, say a person who uses a wearable gets a notification that their heart rate is high. This person doesn’t know that changes in heart rate happen throughout the day and are typically harmless. They start experiencing racing thoughts about why their heart rate is high and whether it might indicate that something is seriously wrong. Their anxiety will likely increase their heart rate even more, leading to a downward spiral of higher heart rate and increasing anxiety. This person might find that they start obsessively monitoring their heart rate data or make unnecessary medical appointments to try to calm the fear that their health data has activated.   

Let’s say a different person is using a period app to track their cycle. The app tells this person when they should expect their period to arrive, but they find that their period almost never starts when the app says it should. Here is another scenario where a person might jump to the anxiety-provoking conclusion that something is wrong with them to explain this discrepancy, though we know most of these apps make predictions based off a standard 28-day cycle which few women actually consistently have.

The overarching theme here is that the more information we have about what’s going on in our bodies, the more opportunities we create to misinterpret this information in a way that feeds anxiety. Once that seed of anxiety has been planted, it can be hard to let it go. Many people will find that the seed grows into unhelpful patterns, like excessive rumination, going down internet rabbit holes, obsessively checking health data, and either overusing or avoiding medical care. This risk is particularly notable for people who have a prior history of anxiety.   

My Take

As a mental health professional, I am all for people trying to improve their wellbeing. I also see firsthand in my practice how more information is not always better. Health tracking gives you a lot of information and, unless you’re a healthcare professional, you probably won’t know what to make of a lot of it.

It also concerns me how health tracking tools can promote disembodiment. Rather than tuning into our bodies for information about how we’re feeling and what we need, the habit can become to look to our device, tracker, or app to tell us. I believe that embodied living is essential to finding true joy and wellbeing, and I worry how we might lose that skill as we become more reliant on technology.

All in all, unless there is a specific reason that you need to track certain health metrics (e.g., you have diabetes and need to monitor your blood sugar), I lean toward suggesting that you don’t. I think the risks of new or worsening anxiety, becoming obsessed with checking/improving your stats, and losing connection to your body outweigh the potential benefits.

Instead, simply focus on healthy actions, like moving your body regularly, eating a wide variety of foods, prioritizing sleep, and engaging in meaningful relationships. Listen to your body and seek out guidance from appropriate health professionals if you have questions or concerns. And if health anxiety has already become an issue for you, prompted by tracking or not, know that therapy can help you feel more grounded again.

Please note: This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a licensed mental health provider or other healthcare professional for guidance related to your specific mental health or medical concerns.