Am I Dependent on This Fitness Tracker?

An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Visible is the frosty air emanating from my competitors as they execute the "about to run" jiggle on the starting line.

A quick flick of the hips.

I'm participating in my local Saturday morning race and I'm focused. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I have to sort my watch. So does the guy next to me.

The person waiting tuts. I won't start until… yes! Signal acquired, I'm off.

In the mele, it's challenging to find a wrist without a smartwatch on it. And it's not just us athletes who use them.

It's a explosive, multi-billion dollar market. Brands like Samsung Galaxy lead the market, featuring an extensive selection of various devices to suit a range of budgets. Based on how advanced the model you go for, prices can vary between a hundred pounds to thousands of pounds.

"I find it infuriating, I can't relax."

"It reassures me… It acts as a companion supporting me."

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

A handful of the responses I've had from fellow device users when I ask what they feel about theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on mine? Right now, annoying. It's telling me my speed is wrong, causing me to question whether the trees I'm passing under are blocking my GPS connection.

Countless individuals of us strap these small gadgets onto our arms and wear them 24/7, apparently at ease with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

Long past are the days when we depended on them only to give us an idea of our pedometer reading. Now, they can measure our nightly rest, stress levels, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's a challenge to find a health indicator they don't track.

But can they do what they say they do? And are the data points we scrutinise a true reflection of reality? Do they enhance our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the plethora of readings and constant notifications just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

Addiction or Aid?

"I do get a bit fixated with mine," a wearer reveals.

While she values how her device records her runs, she finds some of its other features "daunting" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a major life event.

Until she found out she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch constantly alerted her she was failing to be active enough. In a new phase, the watch frequently reports her she's had a restless night.

"I have a six-month old, there's no point to be notified my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Why doesn't she just stop wearing it?

"I suppose I could, theoretically, but I've got this love-hate relationship with it," she says. "I love it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps overkill for me."

Inside the Device

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your bodily functions and analysing your data, but the most use detectors on the reverse of the watch.

They commonly project small, green LED lights onto your arm which can observe pulsation, identifying your heartbeat. More advanced devices measure changes in the bioimpedance that runs through the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

The Professional Viewpoint

A professor says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the rapidly advancing tech could actually save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we notice anything", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that newer wearables can carry out tests like heart rhythm analysis, which constantly monitor how normal the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is irregular impulses in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not mean someone is about to have a cardiac event, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a stroke in the long term.

But how to make sense of these figures is complex. The expert concerns that as additional features are introduced, people may not be able to fully contextualise their data.

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

A clinical psychologist studying patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. Research into the effect of wearable tech on a specific group of cardiovascular patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced greater stress and were "more inclined to use healthcare resources".

She identified a vicious circle with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They grew concerned. Their BPM increased. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their anxiety increased again.

"When people are presented with stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, understandably, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we obsess - it becomes a feedback loop."