Wearable devices can be extraordinarily useful. But when a watch, ring, fitness tracker, or biofeedback sensor provides continuous judgment and pushes the user to “correct” every metric, measurement can create its own psychological strain.
Researchers from Rush University and Northwestern University documented a pattern in which patients became excessively preoccupied with data from sleep trackers. They called it orthosomnia: a perfectionistic pursuit of ideal sleep driven or reinforced by wearable data.
The perfectionism trap
Patients became so fixated on achieving a perfect score that the anxiety of being measured actively kept them awake.
Others would wake feeling rested, see a poor score, and suddenly feel fatigued or anxious. The algorithm’s judgment began to outrank their own physical sensations.
Attempts to correct the data could make the problem worse. Some users spent excessive time in bed to improve their sleep numbers, a behavior that can reinforce insomnia rather than resolve it.
How I use the data
I rely heavily on wearables, but I refuse to let them dictate my routine.
I use the measurements to track long-term trends and cross-reference them with how I physically feel. A single score may be interesting. A repeated pattern across weeks, supported by subjective experience and other measurements, is more useful.
I let the devices do the measuring. I do not treat their interpretations as gospel.