Digital trust and its emotional cost

Digital Detox with an EI Twist: How Tech Affects Your Emotions We often talk about screen time in hours — but rarely in terms of emotional cost. Constant connectivity doesn’t just drain your battery — it drains your emotional bandwidth. A 2023 study by the American Psychological Association found that 43% of adults feel mentally exhausted from being digitally available all the time. A Harvard Business Review article titled “Your Brain on Notifications” (Feb 2023) explains that repeated email and app notifications can cause sustained spikes in cortisol — the body’s primary stress hormone. This invisible pressure slowly erodes our emotional regulation, patience, and even empathy. What begins as productivity often ends in emotional fatigue. You're not just switching tabs — you're switching emotional states: from anxiety to guilt to irritability. During one of my coaching sessions with a Bengaluru-based EdTech company, we uncovered rising burnout and interpersonal friction within the mid-management team. An internal EI audit revealed that 80% of employees regularly checked work messages after 11 PM, and self-awareness scores had dropped by 27% in just six months. The issue wasn’t workload — it was the emotional toll of uninterrupted digital exposure. We are not “always on” — we’re always emotionally disrupted. In a world that celebrates connection, we must ask: At what point does connection begin to cost us our emotional clarity? #EmotionalIntelligence #DigitalWellbeing #CortisolCulture #LeadershipFatigue #AlwaysOn #eicoachdranju #UPurEQ #TechAndEmotions #MindfulLeadership

Emotion-sensing AI is creeping into workplaces. Tools that track slumped posture, eye drift, 'focus loss' - and then ping your boss - are no longer sci-fi. These systems aren’t fringe experiments. The Emotion AI market was valued at $2.7B in 2024 and is projected to cross $9B by 2030. Think it’s over-the-top? That’s exactly the point many buy into: the promise of deeper insights. But this isn’t insight - it’s emotional surveillance in disguise. And what's worse is that the science behind it is mostly fluff; and context, nuance, and human complexity are ignored. The risks of these tools are endless, including: ♦️ Cultural misinterpretation - machines can’t read nuance. What looks like disengagement may be deep thinking, discomfort, or a just an uncomfortable chair. ♦️ Privacy abyss - it collects the most intimate data possible: our employees' unconscious emotional states. Who owns it? Who sees it? What if misuse happens? ♦️ Anxiety spiral - For a generation already navigating digital anxiety, knowing you're being constantly analysed for 'emotional compliance' is a recipe for a toxic, demoralised workplace. These are not tools for connection - they are tools for control. If you’re a leader, ask: am I measuring real engagement or manufacturing compliance? The better way is human: 🟢 Train leaders to read the room and say, 'Hey, what’s going on?' 🟢 Build psychological safety so people can admit when they’re lost or disengaged. 🟢 Vet your AI tools. They should empower, not monitor your people. Because trust in AI can only be built with human-centric leadership.

When we hear about romance scams, the headlines focus on the money. “She lost €250,000.” “He was tricked into sending his life savings.” But what rarely gets mentioned is this: For many victims, the emotional loss is far more devastating than the financial one. Victims describe the experience as a kind of emotional collapse: 🎯 A grieving process for a relationship that never truly existed 🎯 Shame that prevents them from reaching out for help 🎯 Isolation from friends and family who “told them so” 🎯 Ongoing psychological confusion — “Was anything real?” Some report symptoms similar to those experienced by survivors of domestic abuse or coercive control: 🎯 Panic attacks 🎯 Sleep disorders 🎯 Depression 🎯 Suicidal thoughts 🎯 Inability to trust again And yet, support systems often fail them. They’re told they were “foolish,” or worse — that they should’ve known better. The emotional complexity of their experience is dismissed as naivety. But this is not naivety. This is psychological trauma, triggered by deliberate, targeted manipulation. And we need to start treating it that way. Recovery isn’t just about regaining financial stability — it’s about rebuilding self-worth, trust, and safety. Until we address the emotional scars these scams leave behind, we’re not truly helping survivors heal. If you’ve worked with victims of social engineering or digital coercion, I’d love to hear how you approach recovery and support. #TrustHijacked #RomanceScams #EmotionalTrauma #CybersecurityCulture #HumanFactor #DigitalAbuse #CoerciveControl #SurvivorSupport

Reclaiming Trust Part 3/3 In my final article of this three-part series, we focus on rebuilding and protecting trust in the digital world. While technology offers tools like authentication, encryption, and AI-based fraud detection, the biggest vulnerabilities remain human, not technical. Scams exploit emotional triggers, knowledge gaps, and subconscious biases shaped by culture, religion, and personal experience. Even with security in place, people still fall victim to manipulation because they act instinctively rather than reflectively. To reduce digital risk, individuals must develop habits of critical thinking, self-awareness, and digital literacy. We must recognise our emotional triggers, pause before reacting, and educate ourselves and others. Organisations also play a role in designing systems that support trust through transparency and ethical practices. Ultimately, trust is not a flaw — it is a strength. But in the digital age, it must be practised with intention. Human awareness, not technology alone, is our strongest line of defence. I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts and analysis on Trust. Please share your thoughts and feedback here or directly with me via PM. I look forward to reading them. Stay cyber safe, everyone! #alvinsrᴏdrigᴜes ✦ #alvinsratwork ✦ #ExecutiveDirector ✦ #cybersecurity ✦ #cyberhygiene ✦ #BusinessTechnologist ✦ #Digitaltrust