Can Electronics Affect Quality Sleep? | Sleep Foundation (2023)

FAQs

How does technology affect the quality of sleep? ›

Self-reports suggest that sleep is indeed affected by technology use in the hour before bed. Such late-night technology users report less satisfactory sleep more often than those not using technology before bed. They are also more likely to feel sleepier during the day in a range of situations, including driving.

Electronic back-lit devices like cell phones, tablets, readers, and computers emit short-wavelength enriched light, also known as blue light. Fluorescent and LED lights⁴ also emit blue light, which has been shown to reduce or delay the natural production of melatonin in the evening and decrease feelings of sleepiness.

Gadgets Keep the Brain Awake

Muscles throughout the body remain tense and these interactions tend to create stress. Even a low level of stress causes the brain to release cortisol, which will make it more difficult to relax and fall asleep.

Studies indicate that screen time before bed can increase the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, reduce sleep quality, and affect attentiveness the following day. In the long term, nightly exposure to light in the evening may increase the risk of certain sleep disorders and cancers.

Using devices tends to delay the time when you actually go to sleep, reducing sleep duration. Technology affects the brain, stimulating your mind and making it harder to fall asleep. Sounds and blinking lights can cause unwanted awakenings when sleeping next to electronics.

Blue light is harmful to your eyes.

The blue light emitted by your cell phone screen restrains the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle (aka circadian rhythm). This makes it even more difficult to fall asleep and wake up the next day.

Many common chemicals affect both quantity and quality of sleep. These include caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and antihistamines, as well as prescription medications including beta blockers, alpha blockers, and antidepressants.

Reasons to Keep Your Phone Out of Bed

Cell phone and screen use have been directly linked to disruptions of your circadian rhythm, or natural sleep-wake cycle. As noted in research on children and adolescents, the blue light emitted by cell phones inhibits the production of melatonin, the hormone that makes you drowsy.

Remove your smartphone, tablet, and computer from your bedroom at least one hour before you go to sleep. If you have to keep any of these devices in your bedroom, then use a do-not-disturb function or turn them to silent or completely off so that you are not tempted to look at their screens if you awaken in the night.

Yes, it's true: The light from a phone or laptop confuses the brain into thinking it's time to wake up instead of fall asleep. Light from electronic screens comes in all colors, but the blues are the worst. Blue light fools the brain into thinking it's daytime.

Does sleeping with TV on affect sleep? ›

The bottom line. Many people sleep with their TV on every night. Experts are generally against this, because sleeping with your TV on can reduce the sleep you get, interrupt your body's melatonin production, keep your brain overstimulated, and lead to long-term health effects.

Social media usage around bedtime can negatively affect how long and how well you sleep. Looking at social media in bed can make it harder for you to fall asleep. It can also reduce the amount of time you sleep for and leave you feeling unrefreshed the next day.

“Excess screen time effects can include depression, obesity, poor quality of life, unhealthy diet and decreased physical and cognitive abilities.

Keep your cell phone at least 3 feet away from your bed to limit radio frequency exposure. Turn your cell phone off before you go to bed (if you don't rely on your phone's alarm clock)

Experts recommend shutting down your phone at least once a week. After shutting it down, let it rest for a minute or two before starting it back up again. Not only will this help enhance your phone's performance, it is also incredibly beneficial for your battery.

People with good sleep quality have 20 minutes or less of wakefulness during the night. Sleep efficiency: The amount of time you spend actually sleeping while in bed is known as sleep efficiency. This measurement should ideally be 85 percent or more for optimal health benefits.

A sleep tracker can make an educated guess about your sleep stages. But the only way to accurately identify what stage of sleep you are in is to measure brain activity during a clinical sleep study (polysomnography).

Most people tend to hold their cell phones only about 8 inches from their faces. Not good. Try holding yours at least 16 to 18 inches away from your eyes to give your eyes a break. It might feel funny at first but shouldn't take long to get used to.

Can I keep my phone near my head? ›

Your phone's vibrations do more than wake you up, and electromagnetic radiation impacts your brain activity and can be harmful to the heart and brain. Moreover, the overall impact of using a phone near you before sleep is forked and should be kept at a distance if not switched off.

Some people are so attached to their cell phones that they sleep with them on their nightstand or even under their pillow. Bad idea. Cell phones pump out electromagnetic radiation whenever they're on - which means sleeping with one nearby boosts your exposure all night long.

“A key feature of insomnia (or general inability to fall asleep) is that people are inwardly focused and often have cyclic thoughts,” says Zeitzer. “Watching something on TV can, basically, allow people to get out of their own way and allow for sleep to occur.”

Using screens can affect how quickly your child falls asleep and how long your child sleeps. This happens for several reasons: Screen use in the hour before bed can stimulate your child. Blue light from televisions, computer screens, phones and tablets might suppress melatonin levels and delay sleepiness.

Experiments confirm that the blue light emitted by electronic screens can reprogram the brain to delay the onset of sleep. In addition, the exciting (and sometimes distressing) content of electronic media may do the same, prompting children to fall asleep later, and perhaps even awaken during the night.

Social media usage around bedtime can negatively affect how long and how well you sleep. Looking at social media in bed can make it harder for you to fall asleep. It can also reduce the amount of time you sleep for and leave you feeling unrefreshed the next day.

More so than any other color, blue light messes with your body's ability to prepare for sleep because it blocks a hormone called melatonin that makes you sleepy. Bottom line: You're less drowsy than usual at night, and it takes you longer to fall asleep.

Screen time is linked to a host of insomnia symptoms in teenagers. By delaying the release of melatonin, screen time pushes back bedtime and leads to less restful sleep. As the majority of teens have strict school start times, a later bedtime usually results in less sleep overall and increased next-day sleepiness.

Light from electronic screens comes in all colors, but the blues are the worst. Blue light fools the brain into thinking it's daytime. When that happens, the body stops releasing a sleep hormone called melatonin. Melatonin is nature's way of helping us wind down and prepare for bed.

How does phone addiction affect sleep? ›

Problematic smartphone use has been consistently linked to poor sleep in previous studies (4, 21), and smartphone overuse has been associated with daytime tiredness, longer sleep latency, and reduced sleep duration (22–24).

Researchers believe that since social media competes for your attention with the promise of continuous new content, heavy social media users become less able to ignore distraction in general, which leads to poorer cognitive performance and shrinks parts of the brain associated with maintaining concentration.

Social media harms

However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure. The risks might be related to how much social media teens use.

Technology Use Can Create Structural Changes in the Brain.

Pings, alerts, rings, and notifications can shift our focus in a way that can lead to long-lasting difficulties with paying attention. Difficulties paying attention can lead to poorer performance on academic, personal, and professional tasks.

Technology is a part of our lives. It can have some negative effects, but it can also offer many positive benefits and play an important role in education, health, and general welfare.

What are the effects of technology? It has both positive and negative effect. Some of them are increasing satisfaction, better communication channels, eliminating geographical boundaries and some negatives are obesity, health issues, sleep problems, etc.

Blue. Blue is perhaps the best color for your bedroom. Not only is it more muted, but blue tones also tend to have more calming effects on the brain, as shown in a 2018 study of blue walls in a university residence hall.

What color light helps you sleep? Warm light is better for sleep because the eyes are less sensitive to the longer wavelengths in warm light. Light bulbs with a yellow or red hue and are best for bedside lamps.

Red light. Red light is by far the best calming light color for sleep. Choosing a red light as a nightlight ensures that you don't disrupt your circadian rhythm. So switching to a red light a few hours before going to bed will surely help you fall asleep easier.