Do you remember your best friend’s phone number? Or even directions to your favorite cafe? Because odds are you can just search for it using Google Maps.
Technology has significantly altered how we search for, store, and retain information. While electronic devices have become an essential part of life, experts assert that it affects our cognitive skills substantially.

Digital dementia, a term coined by Manfred Spitzer in 2012, is used to describe how the overuse of digital technology can impair brain function. In this write-up, let’s understand the meaning of digital dementia, its symptoms, and tips to prevent it.
What is Digital Dementia? Definition & Meaning
When an individual relies heavily on their phone or computer, they may experience mental decline, such as short-term memory loss. It is called digital dementia.
Increased screen time causes poor language acquisition, weak executive functioning skills, and mediocre cognitive development in children. At the same time, excessive internet use has been linked with technology addiction and social isolation among teenagers.
As a whole, technology appears to have many negative impacts on our cognitive abilities. Though this is true, we need more research to determine how long these impacts last and whether or not they progress into digital dementia.
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What Are Symptoms of Digital Dementia?
When people spend too much time on their devices or work at a desk with bad posture, they experience what is known as sensory dissociation. This is when the back of the brain becomes overactive while the frontal lobe shuts down.
Spitzer argues that internet addiction can be seen as a warning sign for what might come to pass.

Here is a quick list of digital dementia symptoms that you must know:
- Slouched posture
- Developmental delays
- Short-term memory loss
- Social seclusion
- Lack of movement
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Anger
- Balance disorders
- Uncoordinated movements
Alarming Internet Addiction Statistics You Must Know
India had over 755 million internet users in 2021, with 84% of teens having their own mobile phone or tablet and 74% of tweens owning one. Most of them spend an average of five hours a day online, and 80% admit to using social media.
In South Korea, approximately 12% of children are addicted to using the internet. In 2009, the average American child spent 11x more time watching TV than reading a book.
In Germany, the average student in their ninth-grade year spends seven and one-half hours using electronic media devices such as TVs, DVDs, or computers. They do not include MP3 players and cell phones.
Not good news, right?
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Treatment: How to Deal With Digital Dementia?
Here are some ways that will help you to stop or prevent digital dementia:
1. Get Mentally Fit
The brain operates just like a muscle! To grow and stay strong, you need to use it often. If you don’t exercise your brain, then it will decay over time.
In other words, just using your mind every day boosts mental fitness. The more deeply we engage ourselves in learning, the better we manage to learn things. This holds true whether it’s a traditional classroom setting or entirely self-driven through books or videos available online, etc.
If one engages himself too readily with digital media but not so much (or not at all) in other forms of education, then he may experience several negative effects. These include obesity, stress, or different types of sleep disorders, which are detrimental to overall well-being.
2. Go Outdoors More
This advice isn’t just for children; it goes out to all adults too!
The act of playing outside stimulates many parts of your brain through balance, tactile sensations, and exercise. From moving around, jumping up and down, and swinging back and forth, everything helps to prevent digital dementia. Playing is essential for healthy development in children and maintaining a healthy body throughout adulthood or late adulthood.
3. Reduce Screen Time & Maintain Good Posture
It is understandable that we should all make an effort to reduce how much time we spend on screens every day. However, it would be impractical for anyone to completely cut themselves off from using digital devices entirely.
One of the most important things we can do for ourselves is to maintain a good posture during screen time. It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young; sitting up straight will make us smarter overall.
4. Follow Right Posture While Working
Ensure that when using your laptop, you are sitting upright with both feet flat on the floor and your back straight (avoid slouching). Your spine is responsible for the stimulation and nourishment of your brain. Be sure to keep it healthy!
Furthermore, pull your phone up to eye level or position it so that you are able to use it without slouching in an incorrect position. Join yoga programs to keep yourself active and prevent the causes of digital dementia.
5. Raise Digital Dementia Awareness Among Kids
Schools should teach kids about the consequences of internet misuse. They should restrict cellphone usage on school grounds.
Digitalized classrooms are not that great. Parents should try to foster a friendly environment in the home and keep their children from spending too much time online.
Going on a digital diet will help you combat addiction. Do things outside with friends and cultivate relationships face-to-face instead! You might find it helpful to memorize important information for everyday life without relying on your phone for everything.
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Digital Dementia FAQs
It is the overuse of digital devices, technology, and the internet that is leading to a slouched sitting posture and damaging the brain. It can cause short-term memory loss, anxiety, depression, anger, delays in personal growth, etc.
Yes. Since technological advancements and digitization are making people less use of their memory and brain, it is resulting in a decline in cognitive abilities. Moreover, the poor posture of the body during screen time is causing several other negative things. Children are facing delays in overall development. Hence, digital dementia is real and it needs to be controlled.
Yes. It impacts the brain and cognitive abilities of a person.
Because of the dependency on smartphones and other devices, people no longer bother about memorizing phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. This practice of leaving the task of remembering things on devices is called digital amnesia.
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Wrapping Up:
Technology has become an essential component of our society, so much so that we can’t live without it. Engaging with technology positively or negatively can alter your life drastically. Moreover, the implications of this cannot be overlooked, nor should they go unrecorded. Hope this article helped you understand the digital dementia meaning and ways to prevent it.
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