Ever wondered why a simple text message can trigger a wave of anxiety? Unravel the psychological underpinnings behind the stress of texting, exploring the complexities of digital communication and its impact on our emotional well-being.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, dates moved almost totally online
That meant many people looking for love, especially young people, took to downloading a dating app (or two or three) and spending lots of time messaging total strangers.
- But texting back and forth can be exhausting and wrought with anxiety.
Reflect on Your Emotions
Notice how you’re feeling and recognize any potential ways that your internal emotional state could allow you to project onto the conversation at hand
- Imagine how the text you’re sending will make the receiver feel
- Decide if and how you want to send your text
Evaluate Your Needs and Expectations
Be honest about what your needs are and know that you are amazing.
- Step back and approach your own and someone else’s behavior with curiosity and compassion – it’s never too late to take a page out of Carrie Bradshaw’s book.
(Lack of) Context
For the vast majority of our time on Earth, our brains developed extremely effective processes to interpret facial expressions, body movements, and tone of voice.
- Texting provides only the bare minimum of context cues to understand what someone is saying, as we can only see the words without the benefit of their handwriting.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
When texting, the lack of context leaves lots of room for error
- Michelle Drouin, author of Out of Touch: How to Survive an Intimacy Famine, explains that our brains have a propensity to fill in any unknown gaps
- We fill in the gaps between the things that they don’t say and interpret them through our own lens
- This makes it easier to project your own thoughts onto a message
