Everyone today owns or has access to a smartphone. We use them for almost everything: calls with friends, lurking through Facebook and other social networks, watching videos and even reading the news. Although phones are so helpful in making our tasks easier, using it particularly during night time is dangerous to our health. In this article, we are going to discover different consequences of using your phone before sleeping and why it is high time to change something.
1. Blue light is an interference with sleep cycle.
The light that comes out of our phone screens is a type of light called “blue light.” Blue light has a short atmospheric scattering that makes the eyes to react by thinking that the body is still awake. The human body during a normal day is informed by the brain to start secreting something call Melatonin whenever it becomes dark outside. Conversely, the blue light from your phone when used at night suppress the production of melatonin. This confuses the body into thinking it is still broad daylight and therefore if you are busy during the day, you stand a high chance of not sleeping during the night.
Why is this harmful?
If your sleep cycle has been disrupted in some way then it will be difficult to get a proper night sleep. It is very possible that you wake up feeling drained and irritable and unable to concentrate or even make decisions. Over some time, lack of sufficient sleep also impacts the body’s immune system such that you become more vulnerable to getting a cold or flu. Your body needs restorative sleep and using your phone disrupts this fundamental need in your body getting what it needs to function correctly.
2. Eye Strain and Headaches
The key reason for eye strain is when you are using your phone in a dark room, your eyes have to adjust to the shock of the bright screen. This can lead to something called digital eye strain, which comes with a number of unpleasant sensations. Your eye may experience symptoms such as tiredness, dryness, itching or even redness. It might also cause light sensitivity, eye strain, and even headaches, as well as result in blurring of your vision.
Common Symptoms of Eye Strain:
- Sore, tired, or burning eyes
- Dry or watery eyes
- Sensitivity to light
- Blurry or double vision
- They usually get headaches or migraines often.
In the long run, it results in long term effects of the eye sight, with a constantly strained eye vision. If you have a need to use a phone at night then it is best to do so minimally and to take frequent breaks for the sake of your eye health.
3. Risk of Developing Insomnia
A sleep disorder where the patient is unable to fall asleep or wake up several times during the night and is unable to go back to sleep. Staying up late and using your phone can increase your risks of developing insomnia. Something as basic as viewing a video, or even playing games, or even mindlessly scrolling through your social network can keep your brain engaged. This makes it impossible to get leverage and be ready to sleep. Your brain requires rest now and then, it cannot get that since your phone is constantly stimulating it.
Consequences of Insomnia:
The tiredness of which is actually a consequence of their poor mental and physical health due to insomnia. Patients with insomnia are likely to report increased levels of anxiety, stress or irritability. It can hinder concentration, memory or thinking processes, and well-being.. Long term consequences of insomnia include; poor performance in your job or school, poor concentration when learning or working.
How to Prevent Insomnia:
Attempt to avoid electronic devices with screen for at least an hour before you go to bed. To fill this time you can read a book, take a warm bath or even meditate. You will establish healthy behavior that tells your brain it is time for relaxation and subsequently sleep.
4. Impact on Mental Health
You know that using your phone at night is a problem for the physical part of your body; it is also as bad for your mind. A study done show that, individuals who continue using their phones late at night are more likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression. This can be attributed to number of reasons such as low quality of sleep and effect of social media.
People encounter only the most positive moments on social networks, so you may feel like everyone is happier than you are. Behaviors such as browsing feeds at night and feeling incompetent with what you see will make you uncomfortable with yourself and your esteem will be compromised. This can create vicious circle that is not healthy for you mentally.
Tips for Better Mental Health:
- Reduce your time in usage of facebook among other social networks especially late in the evening.
- Consider the things that are positive or soothing in nature to them, such as listening to music or counting one’s blessings.
- Remember social media makes everything look like it’s perfect, and it’s perfectly okay to log out sometimes.
5. Obesity and Un healthy Practices
How can you possibly imagine that texting on your phone at night causes you to put on weight? If you are awake late at night using a phone, you’re very likely to feel hungry and grab a snack that is not good for your health. Lack of sleep also affects hormones regulating hunger and satiety making you feel hungry all the time or vice-versa. Researchers note that those hormones that make you want to eat more, such as the ghrelin hormone, rise when you are tired. At the same time, the hormone leptin which gives the signal ‘I am full’ reduces. This leads to binge eating.
Why Sleep Matters for Weight Control:
Sleep also enables the body to balance production of the hunger hormones so that we make better food choices. The people who have had limited sleep are normally attracted to foods that are sweet or foods that contain high calories to try and regain their energy, which most likely leads to increase weight.
6. Under Productivity and Diverted Attention
It has been found out that, using your phone before you go to bed is likely to reduce your productivity the next day. Lack of sleep harms your ability to think logically, find solutions, and yes—be creative as well. You may sometimes forget things more frequently, or have problem with focus. It might affect your ability to excel in a job or at studies and it makes simple chores feel more challenging.
Ways Lack of Sleep Affects You:
- Poor memory and concentration
- Problems in thinking or decision making
- That is, when the levels of motivation and energy are low.
- Risk of frequency of dilemma and accidents.
- For one to be able to function at optimum level, which is very important, sleep has to be quality sleep. To reduce div Worker Alert phone dependency, you should limit the use of the phone at night so that your brain is fresh the next day.
7. Weaker Immune System
Another minor fact is that sleep has a lot to do with a healthy immune system. Lack of sleep reduces the body’s capability to fight off infections and this means that you can easily get infected. If you constantly text or call and stay up late and do not get enough sleep, you will easily fall sick. A poor immune system means that the recovery from diseases such as flu or a cold is a much slower process.
How Sleep Supports Immunity:
Since cytokines are released during sleep and are proteins, the body’s ability to fight infections and inflammation improves. Sleep depriving limits the production of those protective proteins and as such, you become more prone to illnesses. That is why you should try to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep in order to make your immune system strong.
8. Neck and Back Pain
Neck and back pains are another issues that are associated with the use of your phone at night. As you read this text, or scroll through your messages, you may often find yourself bending at the hips. This strains your neck and spine bringing about a condition called “text neck.” Text neck results in contracted, angry, and sometimes even painful feelings in your neck, shoulder and the upper region of your back.
How to Avoid Text Neck:
- Do not bend your neck by holding the phone at your eye level when using it.
- Keep your body erect and in a correct posture.
- Get up at regular intervals and move your neck and shoulders around for a while.
Night time tips for limiting the use of phones.
- Set a Time Limit: This means that you should be able to set specific times within which the particular application is allowed to run or create a sleep mode that will alert you of how feasible it is to go to bed and leave the phone alone.
- Night Mode or Blue Light Filters: Most phones have this feature in which when the sun sets from the background they reduce the amount of blue light emitted at night. Despite this, this feature may help in Anti-Blue Light screen technology to make the screen comfortable for eye by reducing the strain it puts on the eyes, it’s recommended Do not use the phone an hour before going to bed at night.
- Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: Such behaviors include reading, taking warm shower, or practicing yoga just before retiring to bed.
- Charge Your Phone Outside the Bedroom: This also gets rid of the urge of going to hold your phone especially in case you have sleeping problems.
- Use an Actual Alarm Clock: If you rely on your mobile phone, it’s high time you disposed it and opt for waking up with an alarm clock. This way you won’t have to look at your phone the first thing when waking up or the last thing before going to bed.