- More than half of Americans use their phones in the hour before bed, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
- Experts recommend turning off devices earlier for better quality sleep.
- Breaking the habit involves rethinking nighttime routines by replacing screen time with activities like reading or spending time with family.
Like many of us, Jessica Peoples has heard the warnings about excessive screen time at night. Yet she estimates spending 30 to 60 minutes on her phone before falling asleep, mostly browsing social networks.
“Recently, I’ve been trying to limit the amount,” says Peoples, a New Jersey state discrimination investigator. “I notice that the time I spend affects the time it takes me to fall asleep.”
More than half of Americans spend time on their phones within an hour of falling asleep, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation. This is the very last time we should turn off devices, experts say.
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The brain needs to relax well before bedtime to get deep, restorative sleep that helps the body function, said Melissa Milanak, an associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina who specializes in sleep health.
James Walter uses a phone at his home in the Queens borough of New York on April 7, 2021. Sleep scientists have long established that insufficient sleep is linked to poor health outcomes, anxiety, obesity and many other negative effects. Research is also conclusive that smartphones particularly disrupt the circadian clock that regulates sleep and other hormones. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, file)
“You wouldn’t take a casserole dish out of the oven and put it straight in the refrigerator. It needs to cool,” Milanak said. “Our brains have to do it too.”
Changing your bedtime routine may not be easy, but lack of sleep has long been associated with anxiety, obesity, and other negative consequences. Research shows that smartphones particularly disrupt the circadian clock that regulates sleep and other hormones.
“There are a million and one ways that screens create sleep problems,” said Lisa Strauss, a licensed psychologist who specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatment of sleep disorders.
The brain, she says, treats electric light – not just the much-maligned blue light from a smartphone – like the sun. This suppresses melatonin production, thereby delaying deep sleep. Even very little exposure to bright light in bed has an impact.
IT’S NOT JUST THE LIGHT THAT KEEP YOU
Of course, browsing the news, checking emails or being tempted by ever more appropriate videos on social media has its own consequences.
So-called “technostress” amps you up – perhaps even triggering the brain’s flight or flight response. And algorithms designed to be engaging cause many social media users to scroll longer than expected.
“Now it’s 30 minutes later, whenever you wanted…
