Since the start of 2020, we all have learnt some new normals. These include staying indoors more often than before to wearing masks daily. For offices too, most of us are working from home these days. The pandemic-led shifts are having major health implications on those sitting for long hours, especially for women.
The term Zoom fatigue explains this all. The heightened anxiety that one feels, specially women, emerges while gazing on the gadget screen during the zoom calls. It is what is making us all sick and highly conscious about out appearances more than ever before.
Researchers call it ‘video calling weariness’ or ‘mirror anxiety’. There are a lot of factors at play here. Personality, age, and race also play role in how much video calling weariness we might feel.
The research suggests that women feel more fatigued than men. For the obvious reasons that females tend to pay more attention to their appearance as compared to men.
But in the eye of the coronavirus pandemic, the work from home culture seems to stay here for longer. Hence, we all need to pay more attention to our health, avoiding sitting for longer hours at stretch.
The research can be found on the preprint repository Social Science Research Network. However, the researchers need a larger group of people to dig deeper into the causes of such changes and their impact.
Till then we need to take care of our health and stay safe. And welcome the hybrid culture of work from home with an optimistic mindset.
