Bad dreams, more stress and nowhere to hide: ‘Zoom fatigue’ is making life miserable for Hongkongers working from home
- Hundreds of millions of people around the world are using a host of videoconferencing tools to stay connected
- Having to continually wear the social mask before your own screen can cause anxiety, clinical psychologist says
Veteran primary schoolteacher Rita* could never have imagined a videoconferencing app she had never heard of would give her bad dreams, but that was before the coronavirus pandemic shut her school forcing her to work and learn from home.
Studying for a master’s in Chinese language, as well as teaching, means Rita has had to use Zoom for about two hours every day since late January, when the city was first hit by Covid-19.
Adopted by hundreds of millions of people around the world, the app has enabled her to teach classes, conduct conferences with colleagues, attend lectures and submit course work, as well as learn Japanese for fun – almost all from her bed.
While appreciating how Zoom had helped her maintain some social interaction with people, she said: “If I had a choice I would definitely not have used it.”
Pui*, a charity group manager, said she had to use the app four days a week from her home office for between 90 minutes and 2½ hours a day.
