Could I Be Dependent on My Fitness Tracker?

An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Visible is the cold breath emanating from my competitors as they perform the "about to run" jiggle on the start line.

A rapid movement of the hips.

I'm participating in my local 5km community parkrun and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I must start my device. So does the person alongside me.

The person behind us expresses impatience. I'm not moving until… done! Signal acquired, I'm off.

During the scramble, it's difficult to spot a arm without a smartwatch on it. And it's not just us participants who wear them.

This is a thriving, multi-billion pound market. Companies like Samsung Galaxy lead the market, each with an extensive selection of different versions to suit a range of needs. Depending on how high tech the watch you select, price tags can vary between a hundred pounds to a significant investment.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to relax."

"It comforts me… It's like a friend encouraging me."

"Stop telling me I've had a restless night."

A small sample of the reactions people have shared from other smartwatch wearers when I question what they their opinion is on theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My feelings on mine? Currently, annoying. It's reporting I'm off pace, making me wonder whether the foliage I'm passing under are blocking my GPS connection.

A vast number of us fasten these little monitors onto our wrists and keep them on 24/7, apparently at ease with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

A distant memory are the days when we depended on them exclusively to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Today, they can analyse our nightly rest, blood pressure, heart rate variability (HRV), our body battery.

It's a challenge to find a health indicator they aren't designed to measure.

But can they do what they advertise? And are the statistics we obsess over a true reflection of reality? Do they boost our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the multitude of metrics and motivational messages just add to our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a a little fixated with mine," one user reveals.

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

Prior to discovering she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be productive enough. In a new phase, the watch keeps telling her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I've got a infant, it's unnecessary for me to be informed I've not slept," she says. "I know that perfectly well."

Is it not possible to just stop wearing it?

"It's possible, perhaps, but I've got this complicated dynamic with it," she continues. "I appreciate it for its exercise data, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is possibly too much for me."

How Do They Work?

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of tracking your vitals and analysing your data, but the vast bulk use optical sensors on the underside of the watch.

They typically shine small, green LED lights onto your wrist which can monitor capillary action, detecting your heartbeat. Higher-end devices detect changes in the bioimpedance that runs through the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

The Professional Viewpoint

One expert says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually save lives, "detecting disease before we feel unwell", it could also turn us the tracked into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which constantly monitor how healthy the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is irregular electrical activity in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not automatically signal someone is about to have a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more vulnerable of a heart problem in the long term.

But how to understand these numbers is complicated. The expert concerns that as additional features are introduced, people may struggle to fully contextualise their data.

"I have some doubts that being able to monitor so many things is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A professor focusing on patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. A study into the effect of wearable tech on a set 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 healthcare resources".

She noted a pattern with her patients - they spotted a worrying figure on their watch. They became worried. Their BPM went up. They got even more concerned. They looked a second time, and their heart rate went up again.

"Upon viewing data about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."