How is Your Digital Health?

Health is wealth.

At least that’s what we’ve been taught for as long as we can remember. Look after your physical health. Protect your mental health. And as we grow older, people start reminding us about financial health too—save money, invest wisely, plan for the future.

But recently, I realized there’s another type of health silently affecting our lives that nobody really talks about enough.

"Digital health"

The thought came to me after my Instagram got banned again. At first, it was just annoying. More than annoying, actually. I kept unlocking my phone out of habit and tapping on the Instagram app almost automatically, forgetting for a second that it didn’t even work anymore. That reflex alone felt slightly concerning.

A few days later, a friend casually asked me how I’d been doing. Then he followed it up with, “Also… what happened to your Instagram?”

I laughed and explained that my account had been banned again because of a device ban. At this point, it honestly feels like a recurring side quest in my life.

Then he asked, “How’s your health?”

Without even thinking, I replied, “Do you mean digital health? Because that’s not looking great.”

We both laughed and moved on, but later that answer stayed in my head longer than I expected.

Because the truth is, so much of our life now exists online that it’s becoming harder to separate ourselves from it. Our habits, attention spans, routines, conversations, boredom—even our confidence sometimes—are quietly tied to screens.

My Thumb Opened Instagram Before My Brain Did

And unlike physical health, digital health declines very quietly. There are no obvious warning signs.

Nobody sits you down and tells you that your attention span is shrinking. No notification pops up saying you’ve become too dependent on stimulation. There’s no annual check-up where someone warns you that your brain now struggles to sit in silence for more than a few minutes. Your pharma care plan doesn't cover any medication for this.

It just slowly becomes part of everyday life.

Checking your phone for “two minutes” and somehow losing forty-five. Opening Instagram without realizing you already checked it thirty seconds ago. Watching short videos while eating, while lying down, while pretending to sleep, and somehow still feeling mentally tired afterward.

Sometimes I catch myself reaching for my phone during the smallest moments of silence. Waiting for the elevator. Standing in line. Avoiding typical Canadian small talk in elevators.

And the scary part is that most of these habits feel completely normal now. Maybe that’s why nobody really questions them anymore.

Congratulations, Your Algorithm Knows You Better Than Your Friends

Ironically, I’ve managed to make a new Instagram account now. And to be honest, it feels a little like starting a new life.

My feed is unbelievably clean compared to before. Mostly travel posts, photography, cafés, random cities I suddenly want to visit, and videos that don’t immediately make my brain feel exhausted.

I’ve actually become scared of liking too many random posts because I don’t want to ruin the algorithm again.Which sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud.

But maybe that says a lot about how attached we’ve become to our digital environments. Our feeds almost start feeling like rooms we live in mentally every day.

And weirdly enough, this fresh account reminded me of something I wrote earlier about the urge to start over and build a new life somewhere else. Apparently, now we’re doing that digitally too.

Three Months Without Instagram Didn’t Kill Me

And to be honest, being away from Instagram for almost three months changed something in me.It killed the constant urge to check it.

Now it’s just… there. A small account. A limited group of friends. No pressure to constantly post, scroll, or keep up with everything happening online every second. And, that feels healthier.

I still scroll sometimes. I still waste time online. I still fall into the occasional rabbit hole at 1 a.m. for absolutely no reason. But the difference is that I notice it now. And maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe digital health isn’t about deleting every app, disappearing into the mountains, or pretending we can completely disconnect from the internet.

Maybe it’s just about becoming a little more aware of how much space our online lives quietly occupy.

Because somewhere between “just checking one notification” and unconsciously opening the same app fifteen times a day, a lot of us stopped noticing how mentally crowded things had become.

And, at this point, surviving completely without these apps feels nearly impossible unless you suddenly decide to become a monk living peacefully in the mountains of Tibet with zero Wi-Fi and no screen time report judging you every Sunday.

Final Thoughts Before I Go Check My Phone Again

I don’t think social media is entirely bad. Honestly, some of my favorite travel ideas, conversations, music, and memories have come from the internet.

But I do think many of us are overdue for a small digital health check. Not the dramatic kind where you announce a detox and disappear for ten days. Just a quiet moment of honesty with yourself.

How often do you reach for your phone without thinking?
How comfortable are you with silence?
And when was the last time you were truly bored without immediately opening an app?

Because maybe digital health deserves a little attention too.