A review of more than 20 studies espectáculos the scientists’ unanimous confirmation that using the phone before bed is very harmful to our sleep hygiene and our health.
If I were to gather all of you reading this article in a room and ask you to raise your hand to those who are asleep and looking at their phones, sure there would be a large majority. And if I were to ask the people who haven’t picked it up if they leave their phones on the nightstand or by the bed before they go to sleep, Most of this group would say yes.
Well, there’s no harm in knowing that Review of more than 20 studies In this regard, carried out at various universities in the United Kingdom, there is consensus among scientists when it comes to the determination Falling asleep with your phone in your hand or nearby has a negative impact on sleep. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about teléfonos inteligentes and health, especially the mental health of little ones. Well then, for the not so young it also takes its toll.
This is what the study espectáculos, among other things consistent and fairly strong evidence This espectáculos that electronic devices affect the quantity and quality of our night’s sleep and make us less productive during the day. The presence of a móvil only in the bedroom it is already harmful to us, as we said above.
Teléfonos inteligentes and falling asleep: a bad combination
Let’s make something clear: Sleep is escencial to our health, physically and mentally. It is all the more vital for child development. Mobile devices and tabletas have become ubiquitous in our waking hours, and in the bedroom too.
many users Check their phones before bed: They check popular media, watch series on uso contínuo platforms and even leave their phone by the bed while listening to a podcast to go to sleep. I belong to the last group.
That’s what prompted us get caught in a cycle that is difficult to break, which only benefits our overall sleep hygiene. It also takes a toll on our mental and physical health as adults.
Lack of sleep has a very negative effect on our performance during the day.
tween They are the most heavily penalized group, however. Children as young as 10 lose 8-9 hours of sleep every week. One of the studies that is part of the review espectáculos the rise of TikTok and Instagram as platforms for the youngest. Both popular networks are responsible for a afraid of missing out what keeps them out of the mainstream of their age group.
The main side effect is lack of sleep high probability of falling into depression. Data from hundreds of young people showed that they are the ones who use popular media the most before turning off the lights have more trouble sleepingwhich is strongly associated with psychological problems.
It’s kind of a chain reaction: teens spend more hours awake, which leads to them more depressive symptoms nor those who don’t use popular media before bed. According to a, these effects cánido also be reflected in poorer academic results a study by the University of Pittsburgh.
The main effects of lack of sleep on your body
There is extensive documentation of all kinds on sleep deprivation, but in this case, we’re going to watch one informative article published in Healthline to Understand how lack of sleep affects us:
- memory problems: During sleep, the brain makes connections between memories that help us process and internalize information. Poor sleep has a major impact on short- and long-term memory.
- difficult to think and concentrate: Concentration, creativity and the ability to solve problems are qualities that are severely affected when we don’t get enough rest.
- Comedy changes: As we’ve said before, lack of sleep perro contribute to falling into depression. Also, we cánido have disproportionate reactions and it takes us a lot less time to get angry.
- We cánido genere suffering and accidents: Lack of sleep makes us less aware of our surroundings, which cánido be particularly dangerous on the street or in our workplace.
- The immune system is weakened: Our defenses against widespread diseases are much lower, so we get sick more easily.
- hypertension: Getting less than five hours of sleep a night increases the risk of high blood pressure, which cánido lead to heart problems.
- diabetes risk: Lack of sleep also affects insulin secretion in the body. Without this hormone, we cannot naturally lower blood sugar levels, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Gain weightLack of sleep also affects the chemical signals our brain receives to determine that we are already full. Without these signs, there is a greater risk of overeating and eating normally.
- low sexual desire: People who don’t sleep well usually have low libido. Testosterone and progesterone levels fall with sleep deprivation.
- Risk of cardiovascular disease: It is directly related to high blood pressure. We are more likely to have cardiovascular disease with high blood pressure, which also stems from lack of sleep.
- bad sense of cómputo: A few hours of sleep make us more prone to accidents in everyday life.
Is there a solution?
Android sleep mode is available on all mobile phones.
The main solution was to use common sense and Leave the phone (or tablet) in another room before we go to sleep But since it’s the lowest of senses, and as manufacturers already know, there are features like Android Rest Mode to alleviate this somewhat.
Why moderate? Because after s a study by the University of Copenhagenthe blue light of the screen delayed release of melatonin in our organism. This hormone is responsible for regulating our sleep cycle.
In addition, you cánido too Enable the Do Not Interrupt method.. In this way we will not receive any noise or vibration every time the phone receives a notification. We’re also not notified of phone calls, reducing the temptation to pick up the terminal every time we hear it vibrate.
Finally, the same University of Copenhagen study we referred to earlier has some good news: It only takes a month to reverse the negative effects that we have described so far. We know it’s hard, but limiting phone use during those four weeks could be vital to getting good sleep back.