Am I Dependent on My Wearable Device?

An atmosphere of building tension. Visible is the frosty air exhaled by my fellow runners as they perform the "about to run" wiggle on the start line.

A rapid movement of the hips.

I'm participating in my local Saturday morning race and I'm serious. Three, two, one...

Wait a second. I must sort my tracker. So does the runner alongside me.

The person in the line tuts. I'm not moving until… there! Connection established, away I go.

During the scramble, it's difficult to find a arm without a smartwatch on it. And it's not just us runners who use them.

We're witnessing a thriving, massive market. Brands like Apple Watch are prevalent, featuring an broad range of different models to fit a variety of budgets. Based on how feature-packed the watch you choose, price tags can start from an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.

"I find it infuriating, I'm unable to switch off."

"It comforts me… It acts as a supporter encouraging me."

"Stop telling me I've experienced a poor sleep."

A handful of the comments I've had from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I ask what they think of theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My feelings on my own device? Currently, irritating. It's indicating my speed is wrong, leading me to doubt whether the trees along my route are disrupting my GPS connection.

Millions of us strap these small devices onto our arms and wear them 24/7, ostensibly at ease with the fact they're constantly monitoring us.

Gone are the days when we depended on them solely to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Now, they can analyse our sleep quality, stress levels, oxygen saturation, our body battery.

It's a challenge to find a health indicator they don't track.

But are they able to do what they advertise? And are the numbers we obsess over a true reflection of reality? Do they improve our daily wellness, or do the multitude of metrics and motivational messages just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a bit obsessed with mine," one user confesses.

While she appreciates how her device tracks her runs, she finds some of its other functions "daunting" at times - a feeling initially realised during a pregnancy.

Until she found out she could change its configuration, her smartwatch constantly alerted her she was not being productive enough. In a new phase, the watch insists her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I have a young baby, I don't need to be informed I've not slept," she says. "That fact is only too well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I could, I suppose, but I'm in this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I value it for its fitness insights, I sometimes question whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps overkill for me."

Inside the Device

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of tracking your health metrics and analysing your data, but the most use sensors on the back of the watch.

They commonly emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can detect blood flow, identifying your BPM. Higher-end devices measure changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to assess your recovery state.

Expert Perspectives

A professor says that overall for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually aid early diagnosis, "spotting abnormalities before we show symptoms", it could also turn us the tracked into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which regularly monitor how stable the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart causing an uneven pulse.

This does not automatically signal someone is about to have a heart attack, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a heart problem in the future.

But how to interpret these figures is complicated. The expert worries that as additional features are introduced, people may find it hard to fully understand their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that having the capacity to monitor so much data is such a positive development," he says.

A professor studying patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. Her work into the impact of wearable tech on a specific group of individuals with health issues suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced heightened worry and were "had a higher tendency to use medical services".

She identified a pattern with her patients - they noticed a concerning reading on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse rose. They got even more concerned. They re-examined the data, and their reading rose further.

"Upon viewing data about ourselves that we lack context for then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we obsess - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."