Today is the day to pull the plug on your electronic devices, kick back and enjoy life in real time. It promotes giving our brain, body and eyes a chance to heal and readjust to life in the moment. What better way to start March then letting your mind be an unfettered playground. Science has long been clear excessive screen time is not healthy, so why not chill on National Unplug Day with a gummy.
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Over the last 15 years, most everyone of all generations has slowly become attached to digital devices. While it has done wonders in the day to day business of work, banking, and staying connected to friends and family, screen times also agitates the brain. Marijuana’s key psychoactive ingredient is THC. It stimulates the part of your brain responding to pleasure, like food and sex. This unleashes a chemical called dopamine, which gives you a euphoric, relaxed feeling.
The National Day of Unplugging started in 2009 in partnership with Jewish arts and culture non-profit Reboot and Sabbath Manifesto. The event draws on the Jewish tradition of observing a weekly day of rest, called Shabbat. In Jewish culture, Shabbat is typically observed from sunset on Friday evening until nightfall on Saturday.
The term digital native refers to people who have grown up using digital technology, and are therefore highly comfortable with and possibly dependent on it. So various generations have a different relationships screens. But across the board, a little break is positive.
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Science has shown unplugging is positive for you and can make you happier and more productive. Some of the reasons include
Screen time disrupts sleep and desynchronizes the body clock.
Because light from screen devices mimics daytime, it suppresses melatonin, a sleep signal released by darkness. Screen stimulation can delay melatonin release, desynchronizing the body clock. Once disrupted it can effect deep sleep which is how the mind and body heals.
Screen time desensitizes the brain’s reward system.
Gaming releases so much dopamine—the “feel-good” chemical. But when reward pathways are overused, they become less sensitive, and more and more stimulation is needed to experience pleasure. Meanwhile, dopamine is also critical for focus and motivation, so needless to say, even small changes in dopamine sensitivity can wreak havoc on you function.
Screen time induces stress reactions.
Both acute stress (fight-or-flight) and chronic stress produce changes in brain chemistry and hormones that can increase irritability. Indeed, cortisol, the chronic stress hormone, seems to be both a cause and an effect of depression—creating a vicious cycle. Additionally, both hyperarousal and addiction pathways suppress the brain’s frontal lobe, the area where mood regulation actually takes place.
Marijuana gummies on the other hand, have a chill effect, and, thanks to data from BDSA, we also know they are the most popular way people, especially those under 45, consume. So give your body and mind a break and chill on national unplug day with a gummy.
