What is the relationship between infoxication and anxiety?

Everyone wants to be well informed. Knowing what is happening in the world is a right and, depending on the situation, it is convenient for us to stay informed to form our own opinion and act accordingly.

However, more does not mean better. Too much information can confuse us, psychologically exhaust us and cause us anxiety because we don't know very well who to believe or if we are missing something.

In a hyperconnected world like the one we find ourselves in, it is difficult not to fall into information overload or infoxication. Then We will delve into this concept of infoxication and see what its relationship is with anxiety.

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How do infoxication and anxiety interact?

Not long ago we lived in a seemingly simpler world. There were no more than ten channels on TV, the newspapers recounted what had happened yesterday and messages were sent in handwritten letters that took days or weeks to reach their destination. receiver.

The world today is completely different. With the evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) We receive all kinds of information, immediately and from anywhere in the world. Newscasts and newspapers instantly report what is happening on the other side of the world, receiving the news a few seconds after it happened.

And not just for the news. The mobile, instant messages and social networks allow us to be in constant contact with others. Before, he stayed in person with someone to update us on what had happened to him or, if he couldn't meet in person, they made a call or exchanged letters. Nowadays that is not so necessary anymore because, as everything is shared on social networks, we know quickly what happens to our relatives without even having to ask them, and on top of that moment.

There is no doubt that ICTs are of great help and that being more informed is beneficial, but it also has its drawbacks. Our new way of living, hyperconnected and receiving information instantly, It can harm us psychologically and cause great stress and anxiety.. The fact that we are bombarded with all kinds of data and, on top of that, feeling discomfort every time we miss something, gives rise to a peculiar psychological picture that experts have decided to call “infoxication”.

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What is infoxication?

Infoxication is a neologism that mixes the words “information” and “intoxication”. It has other alternative names that give us clues about what it is: “information overload” or information overload, information anxiety, information fatigue, information overdose and infobesity.

It is estimated that between the birth of writing, in the IV millennium a. C., until the 2000s, five exabytes (trillions of megabytes of information) were created. Barely a decade later, by the year 2011, that same amount of information was being created every two days. Today, such an amount of information is created after a few hours. This is due to the democratization of the Internet and information generation tools, from laptops to smartphones.

The phenomenon of infoxication is out of control in part because we are all good producers of information. From our mobile phones and computers it is relatively easy for us to generate new material. Since we live in a world in which the tools to produce information are better than the tools to organize and search for it, it is difficult not to be a victim of infoxication and fall into intense anxiety in the face of so much data.

Infoxication occurs when the information we receive is much greater than what we are capable of processing. In the hyperconnected world in which we live, this phenomenon is common because with e-mails, instant chats, social networks, mobile smart devices and other ICTs, we risk receiving an overdose of information that is not easy to process and that destroys our sanity.

The constant input of information in an “always on” world leads us to not being able to process any information in depth. When the information is too much, we resort to superficial analyzes and diagonal readings. We would really like to do a deeper analysis of the data we receive, but since there is so much and we have so little time, in the end we evaluate them very superficially, which frustrates us and makes us feel very dissatisfied.

Infoxication worsens our ability to analyze the information that causes us anxiety and, in turn, makes us worse at analyzing the data we want to analyze. It is a vicious cycle, a process that becomes more and more toxic if we do not put a stop to it and that increases the risk of that we make bad decisions not knowing what data to deal with. It is the perfect broth to believe fake news, which is a great risk

Infoxication carries with it several symptoms, in addition to the anxiety and frustration itself: disorientation, lack of attention and concentration, memory problems, impaired analytical ability, indecision, dispersion, impatience, perception of wasting time, impulsiveness and poor selection of information.

Other symptoms of infoxication are the need to stay connected to information sources all day, for fear of missing something (FOMO or “Fear Of Missing Out”). The person wants to be the most up-to-date in terms of current information, both world news and the status of your acquaintances, which makes you compulsively consult websites, social networks and messaging chats snapshot. It's like she's addicted to information, and she wants more and more.

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How to avoid information overload anxiety?

For centuries, we have associated more information with more freedom. Today we have access to more information, more options to choose from but, ironically, we do not feel freer or more satisfied. The anxiety that excess information causes us takes away our well-being, and without well-being one cannot feel truly free.

Although we live in a hyperconnected world and will continue to live in it, all is not lost. It is possible to avoid being a victim of infoxication. It's okay to be documented, but sometimes you need to step away from the noise of social media and mainstream media, like television. We have the right to be informed, but we also have the right not to want to be. Too much information burns us, causes us too much anxiety and we have every right in the world to put a barrier on it.

The physical and mental energy we invest in getting the right information is wasted if we don't do something useful with it and, no matter how much time we invest, it always gives us the impression that something escapes us, which frustrates us and produces more anxiety. Information is essential in modern life, but its excess overwhelms us and makes it impossible for us to process it by not being able to analyze it in depth. At the end of the day, it is best to select it, avoid being overexposed to the information. Less is more.

Quantity is not synonymous with quality. We must choose to document ourselves by reliable means, and avoid those of which we are not sure of their informative rigor. It is true that they may be right, but we do not want to be overinformed. With little information, sometimes it is more than enough to know what is happening. And very importantly, we must filter and critically view the information that reaches us, without strictly believing what they tell us.