Is It Possible I'm Hooked on My Smartwatch?

An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Visible is the chilled vapour emanating from my rivals as they perform the "starting line" shuffle on the beginning point.

A quick twitch of the hips.

I'm participating in my local weekly parkrun event and I'm focused. Three, two, one...

Oh, hang on. I have to adjust my tracker. So does the runner beside me.

The person waiting expresses impatience. I won't start until… yes! GPS ready, and I'm running.

Amidst the crowd, it's difficult to find a wrist without a fitness tracker on it. And it's not just us runners who use them.

It's a explosive, massive market. Names like Garmin dominate, each with an broad array of various devices to fit a spectrum of needs. Depending on how feature-packed the watch you go for, costs can start from a hundred pounds to a small fortune.

"It drives me insane, it's impossible to stop checking."

"It provides solace… It feels like a friend guiding me."

"I wish it wouldn't say I've had a restless night."

A handful of the responses I've received from other smartwatch wearers when I question what they think of theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? At this moment, frustrating. It's indicating my speed is wrong, leading me to doubt whether the overhead branches I'm running below are blocking my satellite signal.

A vast number of us attach these little monitors onto our wrists and keep them on constantly, seemingly comfortable with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

A distant memory are the days when we depended on them solely to give us an idea of our step count. Today, they can analyse our nightly rest, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), our recovery score.

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

But do they do what they say they do? And are the data points we obsess over a accurate representation of the truth? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the multitude of readings and constant notifications just increase our everyday anxiety?

Addiction or Aid?

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

While she appreciates how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other features "excessive" at times - a feeling initially realised during a pregnancy.

Until she found out she could change its configuration, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was not being productive enough. Later on, the watch insists her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I have a young baby, there's no point to be told my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware only too well."

Why doesn't she just stop wearing it?

"I could, theoretically, but I've got this love-hate relationship with it," she says. "I love it for its fitness insights, I just wonder whether all the other things it can now do is maybe excessive for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Different brands of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your bodily functions and interpreting your data, but the vast bulk use sensors on the underside of the watch.

They commonly emit minute LED lights onto your wrist which can observe blood flow, recording your pulse rate. Sophisticated devices measure changes in the electrical current that flows through the skin to assess your recovery state.

Expert Perspectives

A professor says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually aid early diagnosis, "identifying issues before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

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

This does not necessarily indicate someone is on the verge of a heart attack, but it can give an early warning they might be more vulnerable of a blood clot in the future.

But how to interpret these figures is complex. The expert fears that as more functions are added, people may struggle to fully contextualise their data.

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

A health researcher studying wearable tech agrees. Research into the influence of wearable tech on a cohort of cardiovascular patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced greater stress and were "had a higher tendency to use healthcare resources".

She observed a cycle with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They grew concerned. Their pulse increased. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their heart rate increased again.

"Upon viewing stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, naturally, we are going to want to know more," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."