Could I Be Hooked on This Wearable Device?

A sense of building tension. I can see the cold breath exhaled by my fellow runners as they do the "about to run" shuffle on the starting line.

A swift movement of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local 5km community parkrun and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Oh, hang on. I must adjust my watch. So does the guy next to me.

The person waiting tuts. I refuse to go until… done! Signal acquired, away I go.

Amidst the crowd, it's hard to find a person without a smartwatch on it. And this isn't only us athletes who rely on them.

We're witnessing a explosive, multi-billion dollar industry. Brands like Samsung Galaxy dominate, each with an broad selection of various devices to fit a range of lifestyles. According to how high tech the watch you go for, costs can vary between an affordable sum to a significant investment.

"It makes me crazy, it's impossible to relax."

"It reassures me… It feels like a friend supporting me."

"Please don't notify me I've experienced a restless night."

A small sample of the reactions I've received from other device users when I inquire what they think of theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My thoughts on my own device? Right now, irritating. It's telling me I'm off pace, making me wonder whether the trees I'm running below are disrupting my GPS connection.

Countless individuals of us fasten these small devices onto our wrists and keep them on all day and night, seemingly unconcerned with the fact they're constantly recording us.

Gone are the days when we used them solely to give us an idea of our daily steps. Currently, they can measure our nightly rest, heart rate, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's difficult to find a health indicator they fail to monitor.

But can they do what they say they do? And are the statistics we scrutinise a accurate representation of the truth? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the plethora of readings and motivational messages just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I do get a quite preoccupied with mine," one user reveals.

While she loves how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other features "excessive" at times - a feeling first discovered during a significant period.

Prior to discovering she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch kept telling her she was not being active enough. Later on, the watch frequently reports her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I've got a infant, it's unnecessary for me to be notified I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Why doesn't she just remove it?

"I could, I suppose, but I have this love-hate relationship with it," she continues. "I love it for its fitness insights, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps excessive for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of tracking your health metrics and interpreting your data, but the majority use detectors on the reverse of the watch.

They usually project minute LED lights onto your wrist which can monitor pulsation, recording your BPM. Higher-end devices analyse changes in the electrical current that flows through the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

A Fine Balance

One expert says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the continuously improving tech could realistically save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we notice anything", it could also turn us device users into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can conduct tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which continuously monitor how normal the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is erratic impulses in the heart causing an uneven pulse.

This does not mean someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an advance notice they might be more at risk of a blood clot in the years to come.

But how to interpret these figures is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are added, people may not be able to fully comprehend their data.

"I remain sceptical that being able to monitor so many metrics is such a good idea," he says.

A health researcher studying cardiology concurs. A study into the impact of wearable tech on a cohort of heart condition patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced increased anxiety and were "had a higher tendency to use medical services".

She noted a cycle with her patients - they saw a concerning reading on their watch. They grew concerned. Their heart rate increased. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their anxiety rose further.

"If we see stats about ourselves that we don't really understand then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We check, we obsess - it becomes a feedback loop."