TIL:- the evil of Smartphones

in #til8 years ago (edited)

In my youth I perfected the art of sleeping, you could drop a bomb next to me and I wouldn't wake up.

That is not the case these days and insomnia cycles come and go. I'm told it's an age thing. However I have seen a number of claims that sleep disruption can be due stimulation from artificial light at the wrong times of the day.

Well today I learned that there have been scientific studies specifically related to exposure to smartphones.

The conclusions were as follows:

Our findings demonstrate that we spend a substantial portion of our time looking at our smartphones. Screen-time differs across age, race, and ethnicity and may be culturally driven by different norms or other environmental determinants. Screen-time exposure varies throughout the day, with most exposure occurring during the day, but some individuals have peaks of use during the night. Exposure to a smartphone screen, particularly around bedtime, is associated with a lower quality of sleep.

The full study can be found here:

Direct Measurements of Smartphone Screen-Time: Relationships with Demographics and Sleep

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Hi! I am a content-detection robot. I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0165331

Well done, now back to your corner...

Brilliant answer. I hate cheetah. I wish I could hunt it down and kill it!

Hi! I am a content-detection robot. I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0165331

Again... I corrected a typo!!!!

jag är med dig

My nephew is only 5 and already addicted to a tablet. He doesn't sleep well at all its impossible to get him on a schedual like most kids fall into easily. My sis says she believes me when it tell her he stares at screens to much but doesn't ever do anything about it. Frustrates me.

Blue light (emitted from PC and smartphone screens) suppresses the secretion of melatonin (the sleep hormone). Therefore our quality of sleep is sacrificed because we "sleep with our phone".
Screen color regulating apps can help. Depending on the time of day they decide which colors to display.
F.lux is a good PC program for that.
Not looking at screens 2 hours prior to going to bed would also help, but the study shows we spend more time on our phones especially before wanting to sleep.

If exposure to LCD light is at cause, then in theory, it should also be the case of watching TV or sitting in front of a laptop/desktop pc that also causes issues for sleep.

In my opinion the best way to eliminate sleep issues is to get properly tired before going to bed. Sounds trivial, but works...

Excellent. Be distracted by this "evil"... and then bam! Lord Vader is right behind you!

Yes, one quick choke from you... and then it's MY turn.

Deliciously evil I say.

I have a tendency to keep checking my phone, don't know why,think its an addiction :)