How Fitness Trackers Can Affect Your Mental Health: A Therapist’s Perspective
- caitlyn50
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and OCD, I’ve worked with many individuals who use fitness trackers like Fitbit, Apple Watch, and others. While these devices offer a wealth of information about our physical health—tracking everything from sleep patterns to heart rate—they can sometimes come with unintended side effects, especially for those who struggle with anxiety.
In this blog post, I’ll share my thoughts on how fitness trackers can influence mental well-being and offer advice on how to use them in a way that supports both physical and mental health.
How Health Data Can Make Your Anxiety Worse
Fitness trackers are designed to provide helpful insights about your body—how well you're sleeping, how much physical activity you're getting, your heart rate, and more. At first glance, this data seems like it should be empowering. After all, knowledge is power, right?
However, in my experience, many of my clients who are prone to anxiety find themselves becoming hyper-focused on the numbers these devices produce. What starts as a helpful tool to monitor progress can quickly turn into a source of stress. For example, a client might check their tracker first thing in the morning and see that their sleep score is lower than usual. They may immediately interpret this as a sign that they will have a bad day ahead, even though they may feel just fine. Another might get an alert about an elevated heart rate and become fixated on it, eventually spiraling into a panic attack, even if there is no real cause for concern.
The problem lies in how we interpret the data and let it dictate our experience, rather than listening to our bodies and minds directly.
Why Less Can Be More: The Benefits of Limiting Usage
As a therapist, I often encourage my clients to be mindful of how frequently they interact with their fitness trackers. The ideal frequency for checking these devices can vary from person to person, but one thing is clear: less is often more.
When it comes to health data, especially for individuals with anxiety, the key is balance. Checking your tracker multiple times a day can lead to obsessing over small fluctuations in data that aren’t necessarily meaningful. For instance, fluctuations in your sleep score or heart rate might be normal, but focusing on them too much can increase stress and amplify any feelings of discomfort or worry.
Instead, I recommend that my clients limit the use of their fitness trackers to once a week or even once a month. This approach allows them to view their health data in a more balanced, broader context, rather than becoming fixated on every minor change. Seeing trends over time rather than individual data points helps to remind us that fluctuations in health metrics are natural and don’t always signal something is wrong.
Final Thoughts
If you're struggling with anxiety, whether related to health anxiety or other issues, don't hesitate to reach out for support. As a therapist specializing in health anxiety, I work with individuals to develop healthier ways of thinking and coping with the challenges of modern life.
Feel free to contact me to learn more about how I can support your mental health journey.
Caitlyn Oscarson, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
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