E-mail as a Cause of Subluxation

One of the most famous chiropractors, Dr. B.J. Palmer, stated that nervous system disruptions called spinal subluxations can be caused by thoughts, traumas, or toxins.

In other words, stresses can be placed on the human body from many causes. Thoughts: negative emotions, depression, anxiety. Traumas: car accidents, sports injuries, chronic poor posture. Toxins: pesticides, chemicals, deficiencies.

Stress can come from even the unlikeliest of sources. The simple things that you do every day may be causing subluxations in your spinal column, affecting your nervous system, and therefore affecting every function and action of your body.

Here's a case in point: e-mails.

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At first, it might sound absurd to claim that e-mails can cause subluxations, but when you're looking at your e-mails you are possibly subjecting your body to two different types of stress. Physical stress from leaning forward to look down at your phone or sitting at a computer. Mental stress from multitasking and anxiety in answering quickly quickly quickly.

It's been known for several years that the relatively brand-new technology of computers and smartphones lead us into less-than-ideal postures in the low back and neck. In fact, researchers have given names to these conditions, such as upper crossed syndrome and text neck.

Now it's becoming evident that the fast-paced nature of the internet itself is causing mental stress and anguish. From a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald:

One of the co-authors of this study, psychology professor Clifford Nass, told NPR in May that: ''the research is almost unanimous, which is very rare in social science, and it says that people who chronically multitask show an enormous range of deficits. They're basically terrible at all sorts of cognitive tasks, including multitasking … We have scales that allow us to divide up people into people who multitask all the time and people who rarely do, and the differences are remarkable. People who multitask all the time can't filter out irrelevancy. They can't manage a working memory. They're chronically distracted.''

People who multitask more also wrongly view themselves as productive, he says. ''People we talk with continually said, look, when I really have to concentrate, I turn off everything and I am laser-focused. And unfortunately, they've developed habits of mind that make it impossible for them to be laser-focused. They're suckers for irrelevancy. They just can't keep on task.''

Multitasking has also been found to be injurious to mental health. A Michigan State University study published in February found greater media multitasking was associated with greater depression and social anxiety, ''even after controlling for overall media use and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion''.

The stress of online multitasking, of flitting from e-mail to e-mail, from window to window, from tab to tab, takes a physical and a mental toll. The ability to think deeply and profoundly is being lost as we flit, moth-like, from bright shiny object to bright shiny object. The stress this places on the mind cannot be understated: sleep scientists have noted that internet overuse leads to unhealthy sleep.

It is wise to set limits on e-mail and internet use, such as 20 minutes per session. Standing and walking about, clearing the mind to think about deep or profound thoughts... these simple strategies can help to reduce the stress on your body and mind and help to prevent spinal subluxations.