Smartphones have come to permeate every aspect of our lives, and it is hardly surprising users being glued to their smartphones even during bedtime. However, experts have ruled against such a habit and have started using your smartphone before hitting the bed is never a good thing to do.
Here are six reasons why you should keep your smartphone away during bedtime.
Adversely affect sleep pattern
Research has proved blue light emitted by smartphones to be particularly harmful at night as it can have an adverse effect on your sleep pattern. That has to do with the reduced amount of the hormone melatonin that our body produces when exposed to blue light.
Melatonin, in turn, is the hormone tasked with controlling the sleep/wake cycle in our body. And having less of it obviously translates to you having trouble going to sleep at night or feeling tired and irritable during the daytime. Also, the reason blue light inhibits melatonin production is that blue light in the smartphone actually mimics daylight which is also the time you need to have less sleep-inducing hormones.
Deprives of the brain of rest
The human brain is programmed to be more active during the daytime and one way to let it function that way is to provide it with adequate rest during the night. That, however, is the last thing your brain will have when you are fiddling with your phone at bedtime.
Given its inherent nature to process the information that it is fed with, it will end up doing the same when you are with your phone at night. Unfortunately, that is the last thing your brain should be doing if you wish to wake up active and alert the next morning after your brain has had some much-needed rest.
Keep the mind psychologically awake engaged
The Instagram or Facebook feeds that you scrolled through right before going to bed lingers on in your mind long after you have put your phone away. The content tends to keep you psychologically engaged as it keeps you mentally preoccupied.
The same would be the reality if it is something that is pleasure-inducing though things could be worse if what you have gone through has made you sad, depressed or has frightened you. You will have thoughts, anxiety, and emotions that will tend to keep you awake as your mind would still be trying to come to terms with what it has been fed with.
Can damage your eyes
As discussed before, the smartphone display emits blue light to better mimic natural lighting conditions prevalent during the daytime. While that is great for usage during the day, it is the opposite effect that you have at night. That is because blue light has the shortest wavelength and greater exposure to the same at night can adversely affect your eyes.
According to experts, continued exposure to blue light can lead to macular degeneration in the long run. As it is, staring at anything bright during the night can be damaging for your eyes. Take into account the blue light emitted from smartphone displays and you are only screwing your own eyes if you are using our phone during bedtime.
Increases risk of Cancer
As has been mentioned above, the blue light emitted from smartphones can make our body to produce less melatonin at night. Apart from that hampering our sleep pattern, another way the reduced quantity of the hormone might have on humans is that it increases the chances of being affected by cancer.
The latest studies on melatonin and its effect on humans have failed to yield a direct link to a lesser amount of the hormone to increase the chances of cancer. However, the research did prove melatonin being able to inhibit the growth of some cancer cells such as breast cancer and melanoma. This has led experts to suggest giving up on phone usage during bedtime as it might decrease our natural immunity against some cancer types.
Increase Depression
Using your phone at night translates to you depriving your brain of rest after remaining alert and awake the entire day. This, in turn, increases your chances of becoming depressed and irritable as you become less capable of adapting to changes in your surroundings. So, you should check the best fitness apps as well.
Researchers said prolonged disruption to the circadian rhythm has been linked to several health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, and neuroticism. Plus, such people tend to suffer from depression as well as the brain is still processing the latest information it has come across besides also dealing with the emotions the same might have induced.
