Why Digital Overload Is Secretly Sabotaging Your Mental Health (And How to Fix It) In this episode, we're diving deep into the hidden connection between your constant notifications and that persistent edge of anxiety you can't shake. Host Fabian explores how tech overload is literally rewiring your nervous system, keeping you in a state of perpetual hypervigilance that would have been considered pathological just decades ago. Through personal stories, listener experiences, and cutting-edge research, you'll discover why your phone has become an anxiety-generating machine and learn practical strategies to reclaim your calm. This isn't about becoming a digital hermit—it's about understanding how notification anxiety works and developing tools to use technology intentionally rather than being used by it.

Key Takeaways

• Constant notifications train your nervous system into perpetual hypervigilance
• Your brain treats every phone ping as a potential emergency
• The average person checks their phone 2,600 times daily
• Tech overload creates chronic stress through dopamine dysregulation
• Small, consistent boundaries can rewire your relationship with technology

What You'll Discover

• Why phantom vibrations are actually your nervous system crying for help
• The science behind how notifications spike cortisol and fragment attention
• Practical notification audit strategies that actually work
• How to create digital sunset routines for better sleep
• The pause protocol that breaks compulsive phone checking

Resources Mentioned

• Anna Lembke's research on dopamine homeostasis at Stanford University
• Gloria Mark's UC Irvine study on attention residue and task-switching
• Matthew Lieberman's UCLA brain imaging research on social media and threat response
• Sherry Turkle's MIT findings on phone usage and sleep disruption
• Adam Gazzaley's UCSF research on cognitive interference and digital distractions

Next Episode Preview Join us next Tuesday as we explore the complex world of parenting with anxiety, covering how to support your children while managing your own mental health challenges.

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