Electronics June 29, 2018
Be smart don't sleep with your Smartphone.
If you are one of the alarming 71 percent of people who admit to being guilty of going to sleep with their cellphone within arm’s reach, you need to be aware of what it is doing to your health. Three percent of those 71 percent of people admit to sleeping with their phones in their hands. If you are one of that three percent, no judgment, but you should be aware of the harmful impact that it has on your health.
Smartphones have changed every aspect of daily life. We have the entire world in our pockets. We can do anything with these little machines and most people will tell you they have generally improved their lives. While cell phones may make every waking moment of our lives easier, they have had a horrific effect on our sleep. Sleep is one of the most important acts we perform daily. Our bodies need sleep to function properly, and our minds need sleep to think properly. Not getting enough sleep can lead to some serious, long-lasting, health issues.
Blue light is a type of light that naturally occurs from the sun. However, the most common forms of artificial blue light come from electronic screens. Exposure to blue light at night disrupts your body’s circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin production. Most smartphones now come with a “nighttime” feature which makes the screen warmer hues that are almost sepia tone instead of the harsh, bright, white. However, there are still more reasons why your smartphone disrupts your sleep. The second biggest one being notifications.
Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is the term psychologists use to describe the extreme anxiety that comes with missing out. It has been a part of humanity since the dawn of time. However social media exacerbates the preoccupation of missing out. Every day we log into our feed and see all of our peers appearing to have the time of their lives. FOMO makes it tough to avoid checking our phones while our friends are out and we are in bed. 22 percent of people even admit to checking their phones in the middle of the night. Half of the 18 to 24 year-olds surveyed said that they were guilty of waking up in the middle of sleep and checking their phones. It is hard to unplug after we spend most of our day plugged in but we desperately need sleep in order to be healthy.
Research links not getting enough sleep to numerous health problems. People who do not get enough sleep are at higher risk for heart issues, obesity and mood disorders. It is also dangerous because driving while exhausted is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. Being awake for eighteen hours and getting behind the wheel is the equivalent of driving with a blood-alcohol level of .05. Society needs to emphasize the importance of the lack of sleep. We are taught to go twenty-four seven, and technology has only made it worse.
While smartphones are here to stay, we need to reexamine how we integrate them into our lives. We need to put ourselves first. Even if that means leaving our phones on the other side of the room when we sleep. We are all guilty of sleeping next to our phones, but if we don’t want to start seeing the negative effects on a massive scale we need to change this habit. It is not too late to start sleeping with your cell phone further than arms reach.
