If you are like me, then you probably sleep with your phone; every day we try so hard to go to sleep and still we find ourselves scrolling through TikTok at 12 pm. Surely,it might feel euphoric at the moment, but it is terribly harmful, not only because you are boycotting your sleep but for many other reasons that I am going to explain.
Our cell phones' screens emit blue light, this restrains the production of melatonin. “What is melatonin you may ask?” Melatonin is the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle also called the circadian rhythm, when this hormone is retained it is harder to fall asleep and wake up the next day. Our circadian rhythm is extremely sensible to blue light because of its short wavelength. According to PMC, studies show that exposure to blue light can cause damage to the layer that senses light and sends signals to the brain so you can see, called retinas.
Moreover, our cell phones are objects keeping us in contact with the world, using it during times of the day when we must relax might increase alertness because we are constantly consuming different content; for example, reading important emails, talking to family, even scrolling through Instagram. Although, you might think this isn’t significant and damaging, consuming content in your phone keeps your mind engaged tricking it to think it needs to stay awake.
Since you tricked your brain to stay up extra time awake at night, consuming different types of content instead of sleeping which is a crucial activity for survival, you’ll be more tired and less alert for the next day. Using your phone late at night does not only decrease your productivity levels and makes you less efficient, but it can also lead to chronic deficiency in sleep which is dreadful in the long run.
It is easier said than done, phones have become such a crucial part of our lives that we might feel that without them our world is falling apart, but there are several tips to help you stop using your phone before sleep that can drastically affect you positively.
Put your phone away in another room: Keeping your phone far away will discourage you from using it. Let’s be honest, we are lazy creatures, so putting our phones to charge far away will stop us from standing up from our lovely cosy beds to use pick it up and use it.
Read a book: As annoying as it might sound to hear, books are an incredible distraction, they not only provides us with a world of fantasies, science, history, and much more, but they also allow us to keep our minds off from anything that might be worrying us allowing us to fall into relaxation without harming and troubling our sleep like electric devices do.
It is important to establish relaxing nighttime routines and ditch our phones. Now that you know the harms of using our phone at night I hope you change your habits like I will definitely do.
Paola
Bibliography:
"Why It’S Time To Ditch The Phone Before Bed". Sclhealth.Org, 2020, https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2019/09/why-it-is-time-to-ditch-the-phone-before-bed/#:~:text=The%20blue%20light%20emitted%20by,wake%20up%20the%20next%20day
"Put The Phone Away! 3 Reasons Why Looking At It Before Bed Is A Bad Habit". Health Essentials From Cleveland Clinic, 2020, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/put-the-phone-away-3-reasons-why-looking-at-it-before-bed-is-a-bad-habit/. Accessed 31 Oct 2020.
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