display screens disrupt sllep quotation

Joanna Cooper, M.D., a neurologist and sleep medicine specialist with the Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation, says bright screens stimulate the part of our brain designed to keep us awake. Looking at a brightly-lit screen prior to sleep can make for a restless night.

Device screens produce blue light, Dr. Cooper says, which is the part of the light spectrum most active in our sleep cycle. Stimulation of this part of the brain suppresses production of melatonin, making it difficult for many people to “turn off” their brains and fall asleep.

“The light from our screens can delay our transition to sleep, even if we are engaged in some soothing activity online,” Dr. Cooper says. “But it’s more likely that our evening texting, television shows or video games are stimulating in themselves, keeping the brain busy and wound up, and even causing adrenaline rushes instead of calm.”

Nearly all adolescents have access to a screen, and having a screen (not including a smartphone) in the bedroom was frequent: 65% in our study compared to 97% in the USA (NSF sleep in America 2014) and this is increasing over time [29]. Our adjusted model showed that simply having access to a computer or television screen in the bedroom did not increase the risk of negative effects on sleep: it is the duration of screen use and notably the timing of use which determines the effect. Our data enabled us to distinguish evening screen use (after the evening meal but before lights out) and night-time screen use (after lights out). Evening screen use (computer, television or smartphone) was found in 86%, slightly lower than Hysing et als study in 2015 in a population of 16–18 year olds [24], but we note that our population was younger with a mean age of 14.3 years. 27% of our participants regularly used screens during the night and 33% were woken at least once a night by an alert on their mobile phones.

A reduction in sleep time linked to the intensity of screen use during the night reflects the fact that time spent on screens directly reduces sleep time. However, this cannot fully explain the reduction in sleep time observed by those using screens in the evening. Evening screen based activities can be mentally stimulating (for example playing games or interacting on social networks) but screens also expose users to bright, blue enriched light. Evening light exposure has two effects: a directly stimulating effect on the wake systems reducing sleepiness [30] and a potential reduction or abolition of melatonin secretion which shifts the phase of the body clock, leading to later bedtimes and wake times [31]. However this depends on the spectrum of the light exposure (blue light specifically stimulating the melanopsin receptors in the retina) [10], and also daytime light exposure as bright light exposure during the day can significantly reduce the suppressing effect of evening light on melatonin secretion [32]. It is suggested that the combination of evening light exposure and stimulating screen based activity may explain the later bedtimes noted in evening screen users [26]. All our participants were under 18 and in school and thus obliged to get up early in the school week (mean getting up time was 07:05): early school start times are known to be associated with reduced weekday sleep times in adolescents [33]. A later bedtime in the context of a fixed wake time would reduce total sleep time. At the weekend, high sleep pressure due to reduced sleep on school nights and phase shifted circadian rhythms leading to delayed melatonin offset will lead to later wake times and a difference in sleep duration between the school week and the weekend. This is what we observed, with a clear dose effect relationship between evening screen use and sleep restriction (defined as ≥2 hours more sleep per night on average at the weekend). Sleep deprivation, defined as a sleep time in the week of <7 hours was linked to all night-time screen use and >2 hours of evening screen use.

Our study was limited by the fact that both sleep habits and screen use depended on self report. However studies using actigraphy have shown broad correlation between subjective and objective reports of sleep timing [41] with higher accuracy in adolescents for sleep onset latency [42]. A more complex problem is that of subjective vs objective screen use. Firstly, as discussed by Kaye et al, there is a clear need for theoretically valid and practically useful conceptualisations of screen time [43]. Estimations of use are affected by the time frame of reference, media multitasking (the number of screens used simultaneously), developmental age [44] and the differentiation between screen time as a numerical measurement (e.g., minutes per day) or “screen use” (number of connections),. Andrew et als study of smartphone use in adults found a reasonable correlation in estimated vs objective use time although a considerable underestimate in the number of brief uses [45] while other studies show only a modest association between self report and logged screen time and a possible tendency to over report [46]. To our knowledge no study has been able to evaluate objective vs subjective screen time in the context of media multitasking especially in adolescents. Developing objective measures of screen time across multiple devices is necessary but technically challenging. Given the known difficulties in time estimation in the younger population it is likely that adolescents underestimate their screen use.

Our screen use questions were limited to an upper limit of more than 2 hours: given the high number of students (30%) using screens for more than 2 hours in the evening, it would have been useful to have had further detail on high duration screen users: future studies should seek details of upper limit use and we suggest asking about use of 180–240 minutes and >240 minutes. Opticians have started to offer blue light filters on glasses but we did not ask about this, and so cannot identify a subpopulation potentially protected from the adverse effects of blue light on circadian rhythms. The nature of screen based activity may add to the stimulating effect of screens, but our study did not examine content or whether screen use was related to school work or leisure activities, although telephone use is unlikely to be directly related to school work.

Our definition of sleep deprivation as a sleep time <7 hours is less than the 9 hours recommended sleep time for teenagers [47] although this ignores individual variations in sleep needs. It is possible that students who need less that nine hours sleep or who have sleep difficulties use screens when they cannot sleep leading to an association with reduced sleep time. We cannot determine the direction of the effect, but students who need little sleep would not suffer adverse effects on daytime functioning which would potentially reduce the strength of the association. We did not examine potential confounders such as anxiety and depression as the questionnaire was completed online in the classroom setting. Finally our population was not selected randomly as we recruited from schools where teachers had chosen to implement a sleep focussed teaching module. However, within school classes we had an excellent participation rate, ensuring good representation among children and data was adjusted for sociodemographic status estimated by geographical location of the school.

et al.  Sleep duration, restfulness, and screens in the sleep environment. Pediatrics. 2015;135(2):e367-e375. doi:10.1542/peds.2014-2306PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref

Even though we’ve heard a million times that the blue light coming off our phones, laptops, and TVs keeps us up at night, a lot of us end up sabotaging our sleep because we just can’t seem to power down our screens.

According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2022 Sleep in America® Poll, a major source of artificial light in Americans’ daily routines comes from computer, tablet, and smartphone screens. 80% say they looked at screens often during the past week during the day, 68% reported staring at screens in the evening, and—most troubling from a sleep-health perspective—58% are looking at screens within an hour before bedtime.

Science has proven that blue light keeps you up at night. Cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions emit blue light from their screens. Blue light has shorter wavelengths than other colors in the visible light spectrum and causes more alertness than warmer light tones. Because blue light promotes wakefulness, it can have a powerful effect on the natural sleep-wake cycle, which is one of the essential circadian rhythms governing our body processes.

Light exposure within two hours of bedtime can be disruptive to one’s sleep cycle. That’s because exposure to blue light at night stimulates your brain into thinking it’s earlier in the day. Your brain slows or stops its release of melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep.

Yet, over half of Americans polled say that they look at screens within an hour before bedtime or in bed before sleep. Despite our best intentions, we can’t seem to quit screen time.

We know it’s not easy, but try to rid your bedroom of distractions that have been shown to get in the way of a good night of sleep. The ideal sleep haven doesn’t have any televisions, tablets, and laptops, but we realize this is unrealistic for many so do your best to limit the number of screens in your bedroom. Yes, you probably need your phone in the bedroom, but not in the bed. Your bed at bedtime should be a screen-free zone.

A sleep-friendly bedroom is dark, quiet, cool, and free of anything that might wake you up during the night. We’ve all fallen asleep with the TV on, only to be woken up later by an infomercial and a bright screen in the middle of the night. Pings and dings from incoming emails on your laptop, as well as text alerts and even the gentle buzz of vibration mode on your cell phone, will likely put your brain back into “response-mode” and disrupt you while you’re drifting off.

By limiting the number of screens in your bedroom, you’re removing the temptation to peek at them in the middle of the night. And by sticking to a cut-off time every night (at least an hour or two before bedtime), you’re establishing a solid routine designed for a restful night of sleep.

The study, published November 2 in the Journal of Pediatrics, analyzed data from the US 2016 National Survey of Children"s Health. Caregivers of more than 50,000 kids answered questions about the average amount of times their kids slept and the average amount of time the interacted with screens, including computers, phones, TVs, and video games.

The results showed that each hour of screen time a child had during the day was associated with three to eight fewer minutes of sleep per night, depending on age. (Kids in the study spent roughly three hours a day looking at screens.)

Because digital screens are now used by kids of all ages — and because research indicates that 50% to 90% of school-aged kids aren"t sleeping enough — it"s thought that screen time may negatively impact sleep,study author Dr. Andrew Przybylski wrote in the paper"s introduction.

f.lux (v4.104) is a free software program (https://justgetflux.com/), developed for computers and other iDevices, unobtrusively alters light spectrum emitted from screens according to clock time. The screen remains unchanged throughout the day (6500 K, peak ɻ= 453 nm); however, from late evening until early morning, f.lux adjusts the screen light to that of natural light, using warmer colors, such as red and orange (3800 K, peak ɻ= 598 nm; used in the present study), instead of blue/green light used throughout the day.

Each letter was displayed for 0.216 seconds and the blank inter-trial interval time varied randomly between 1300 and 1700 ms. The participants responded only to the letter ‘‘B’’ by pressing the spacebar. The response time window was between 150 ms (to stop anticipated responses) and 1500 ms. After 500 ms, a 440-Hz tone sounded for 475 ms to encourage participants to respond. The letter ‘‘E’’ appeared randomly at a frequency of 4 in every 20 letters displayed. The average reaction time (ms), and correct ‘‘no go’’ responses (%) were recorded.

16. Reiter RJ, Tan DX, Korkmaz A, Erren TC, Piekarski C, Tamura H. et al. Light at night, chronodisruption, melatonin suppression, and cancer risk: a review. Crit Rev Oncog.2007;13(4):303–28. [PubMed]

36. Stefani O, Bues M, Pross A, Spath D, Frey S, Anders D. et al. 75.4: Evaluation of Human Reactions on Displays with LED Backlight and a Technical Concept of a Circadian Effective Display. SID Symposium Digest of Technical Papers.2010;41(1):1120–3. doi: 10.1889/1.3499852. [CrossRef]

40. Green A, Cohen-Zion M, Haim A, Dagan Y. Evening light exposure to computer screens disrupts human sleep, biological rhythms, and attention abilities. Chronobiol Int.2017;34(7):855–65. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2017.1324878. [PubMed] [CrossRef]

Bedtime use of screens before bed for leisure, diversion, distraction, and communication was, and is, global, especially among adolescents. In 2015, more than 90% of 9,846 Norwegian adolescents used “screens” before bed.

A 2020 study of 4,811 adolescents from New Zealand found that 86% used their smartphones in bed most nights, 88% of use was social media, and 77% was texting/instant messaging. Seventy percent “agreed” they spent too much time on screens, knew it was detrimental to sleep, but found not being able to communicate with friends untenable.

A study supported by the NIH found that some pre-teens who clocked over seven hours a day on screens had differences in parts of their brains compared to kids who spent less time on screens.

It"s 11:00 pm. You should be asleep. But you"re watching a video on your phone. Tomorrow, you"ll wake up and go to work, where you"ll stare at your computer for 8 hours. When you get home, you"ll watch a movie on TV. And if you"re anything like the average American adult, you spend more than 7 hours a day staring at digital screens.

So, what"s all this screen time actually doing to your body and brain? Humans didn"t evolve to stare at bright screens all day. And our eyes are suffering the consequences. An estimated 58% of people who work on computers experience what"s called Computer Vision Syndrome.

And long-term, this amount of screen time could be damaging our vision permanently. Since 1971, cases of nearsightedness in the US have nearly doubled, which some scientists partly link to increased screen time. And in Asia today, nearly 90 percent of teens and adults are nearsighted. But it"s not just the brightness of our screens that affects us.

It"s also the color. Screens emit a mix of red, green, and blue light — similar colors in sunlight. And over millennia, it was blue wavelengths in sunlight that helped us keep our circadian rhythms in sync with our environment. But since our circadian rhythms are more sensitive to blue light than any others,

A problem occurs when we use our screens at night. Typically, when the sun sets, we produce the hormone melatonin. This hormone regulates our circadian rhythms, helping us feel tired and fall asleep. But many studies have found that blue light from screens can disrupt this process.

But perhaps the most concerning changes we"re starting to see from all this screen time is in kids" brains. An ongoing study supported by the NIH has found that some pre-teens who clocked over 7 hours a day on screens had differences in a part of their brains called the cortex. That"s the region responsible for processing information from our five senses.

Usually, our cortex gets thinner as we mature. But these kids had thinner cortices earlier than other kids who spent less time on screens. Scientists aren"t sure what this could mean for how the kids learn and behave later in life. But the same data also showed that kids who spent more than 2 hours a day on screens scored lower on thinking and language skill tests.

To be clear, the NIH data can"t confirm if more time spent staring at screens causes these effects. But they"ll have a better idea of any links as they continue to follow and study these kids over the next decade. It"s no doubt that screens have changed the way we communicate. But only time will tell what other changes are on the horizon for humankind.

Includes USB data acquisition device, custom developed cages, Sleep Deprivation/Disruption System, PiezoSleep software license, SleepStats software license, and all necessary cables and power supplies (if applicable). A complete turnkey system for noninvasive monitoring of sleep/wake and sleep disruption in mice using your existing laboratory cages.

How might screens impact a child’s sleep?As humans, our circadian rhythms and our production of melatonin — the sleep hormone — kicks in when the sun sets. But the blue light from screens inhibits melatonin, which can delay sleep. And watching TV or playing games also keeps our brains and bodies more alert and activated and less ready for sleep. (Tablets and smartphones will suppress the melatonin more than TVs because the screen, and that blue light, is closer to the face.)

According to one study, infants 6 to 12 months old who were exposed to screens in the evening showed significantly shorter nighttime sleep than those who had no evening screen exposure.

For preteens and teenagers, excessive use of screens late at night will affect their sleep, and keeping screens out of the bedroom is advised. Too much time spent on social media as well as lack of sleep can affect behavior and cognitive performance in school and interfere with learning. It has also been shown that excessive screen time and sleep deprivation are linked to obesity, which in turn can affect self-esteem and lead to social isolation and more screen time.

How addictive can digital screens be for young kids?The problem with mobile devices is that they draw you in, and as we all know it’s easy to waste time surfing the internet. They are also so portable and ubiquitous that we cannot manage without them. As adults, we understand some of the drawbacks and make a conscious decision to put the phone down, but for 2- or 3-year-olds, who don’t have any understanding of these concerns, if they have been exposed to the phone/tablet since infancy, it becomes their norm and they want to do more of it.

We should also be careful of relying on using screens to distract a child from a problem rather than having them figure it out and learn to resolve it themselves. Using a favorite song to distract a young child who has just fallen and scraped their knee might be OK, but having the parent comfort and cuddle with the child and talk to them is better. Using screen time to distract young children who are having trouble sharing a toy will not help them learn how to share and take turns in the future, although it may be a quick fix in the short term.

Are some screens worse than others?Television isn’t as bad as it was once perceived to be as it can be controlled more easily and stays in one place. Tablets and smartphones are much more accessible because they’re portable. You can take them anywhere and use them at any time.

It’s no secret that children’s exposure to screens has increased over time, whether it’s a tablet, mobile device, television, or computer. With the rise in virtual learning, screen time is also being incorporated into schools. According to a Common Sense Media study, 53 percent of children in the United States who are 11 years old already own a smartphone. The Center for Disease Control found that children who fall in the age range of 8-10 spend about six hours a day in front of a screen. Not all screen time is created equal. Screen time can be used as a reward to teach children how to prioritize their chores or homework before watching television. Additionally, screens provide educational content or programs. During their early years, children need to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills. An unhealthy amount of screen time, unfortunately, stagnates the growth of a child’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being.

Children who spend too much time on their screens—especially during the evening—usually take longer to fall asleep, go to bed later, and sleep fewer hours than children who don’t have much exposure to screen time. Ideally, it’s important to keep children younger than 18 months away from screens, unless you’re video chatting. Remember that toddlers need about 12-15 hours of sleep, children ages 3-5 need about 11-13 hours of sleep, and children ages 6-12 need 8-10 hours of sleep. Children with less sleep struggle to remember things and concentrate in the classroom. Gaining quality sleep and being able to process new information is a crucial aspect of a child’s developmental stage.

For children under the age of three, development is happening quickly. Young children learn by imitating adults and exploring their environments. An excessive amount of screen time has distracted a child from experiencing the everyday activities and observing the world around them. For example, instead of talking to their family or playing with toys, they may have tunnel vision and focus on their screen. One study conducted by the National Institutes of Health found that children who spent over two hours a day on their screens received lower scores on language and critical thinking tests. Additionally, MRI scans of children who spent over seven hours of screen time per day saw a thinning of their brains’ cortex. The brain’s cortex plays a pivotal role in perception, thought, memory, language, attention, awareness, and consciousness. Not to mention, screen time greatly reduces their ability to concentrate. It’s hard to sit down and have your child read a book once they are addicted to the entertainment on their tablets or screens. Reading requires diligence, processing the meaning of words, and using one’s critical thinking skills to comprehend the story.

Life on this planet is adapted to the 24-hour (h) solar day. Over evolutionary time, the predictable daily cycles of light and dark have been internalized in the form of circadian rhythms. Circadian (circa = about; dies = day) rhythms allow synchronization of biological and behavioral processes to the external temporal environment. Thus, optimal timing of physiological events is coordinated by these internal timekeepers. Endogenous circadian rhythms have a period of ~24 h and are reset on a daily basis to precisely 24 h through exposure to light–dark cues. Over the past century, however, the boundaries between day and night have been obscured by the widespread adoption of electric light at night. As a result, behavioral health and psychiatric consequences of circadian disruption by light at night are becoming increasingly apparent

The economic benefits of electric lighting soon ensued as night shift work was introduced. By the end of the 20th century, technology provided people with additional sources of night-time light, including television, computer screens, e-readers, smartphones, and tablet computers. Today, >80% of humans and 99% of those living in the US or Europe experience significant night-time light pollution

In addition to light at night, circadian rhythms can be disrupted by another modern convenience, jet travel across time zones. Jet lag, also called jet lag disorder, is a transient sleep problem that arises when an individual travels across multiple time zones

Social influences on the timing of human sleep becomes apparent when comparing sleep–wake behavior on work and free days. The vast majority of people display clear differences in both sleep duration and timing; sleep duration shortens significantly (by ~2 h/night) from the age of 10–17

In sum, lifestyle changes that have occurred in response to technological advances over the past century have resulted in unprecedented changes in the timing and duration of light exposure, which in turn has the potential to desynchronize circadian rhythms; increased prevalence of disrupted circadian rhythms strongly correlates with the increased incidence of mood disorders

Most of the evidence supporting the effects of atypical light exposure on affective responses has been gleaned from animal models, particularly rodents, because of the ease with which light exposure can be controlled. One advantage of using rodents is that the most common lab species are nocturnal, and so exposure to light at night occurs during their active and awake phase. Thus, light at night does not directly alter sleep in nocturnal species. This is important because most effects of disrupted circadian rhythms on human mood are attributed to sleep disruption, but studies using nocturnal species demonstrate that this is not the only cause as sleep remains intact when animals are exposed to dim light at night

There are few human studies that have examined the link between circadian disruption and MDD specifically, as most human data combine all types of depression. Nonetheless, studies examining the association between shift work and MDD have produced varied results

There is ample basic science evidence to support an association between disrupted circadian rhythms and depressive-like behavior. To assess the role of the SCN in regulating depressive-like behavior, Tataroglu and colleagues bilaterally lesioned the SCN and examined the effect on depressive-like behavior via forced swim tests

Similar effects of increased depressive-like responses have been demonstrated in other rodent models of circadian disruption. Rats exposed to 8 weeks of constant light exhibit increased depressive-like behavior concurrent with loss of diurnal rhythms in activity, melatonin, and corticosterone

Studies of rodents revealed relationships among the circadian system and anxiety-like disorders. For instance, targeted disruption of canonical molecular clock components alerts anxiety-like behavior. Mice with a Δ19 mutation in the Clock gene display reduced anxiety-like behavior and are less fearful of aversive stimuli than wild-type miceClock gene is sufficient to induce manic-like behaviorsPer1 and Per2 display elevated anxiety-like behavior, whereas mice lack either Per1 or Per2 do not have altered anxiety-like responsesPer1/Per2 expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of wild-type mice also produces anxiety-like behavior, suggesting a causal role for these core clock components in the NAc for regulating anxiety.

Other studies have investigated how environmental disruption of circadian rhythms (e.g., via exposure to light at night) contributes to the development of anxiety-like behavior. For example, housing adult rats chronically in constant light induces anxiety-like behavioral responses

Circadian disruption in the form of jet lag has been reported to induce bipolar episodes in susceptible people who fly across multiple time zones; east to west travelers with BD who then experience a phase delay in circadian rhythms at their destination are more likely to develop depression, whereas those traveling west to east who then experience a phase advance in their circadian rhythms are more likely to develop mania

Historically, treatment for BD symptoms has been discovered by serendipity (lithium) or informed by treatments developed for other disorders with shared state, such as depression (described above). Early studies reported that BD patients have a ‘fast running’ circadian clock, likely leading to chronic circadian disruption; treatment with lithium, which slows the molecular circadian clock, ameliorates the symptoms and stabilizes circadian rhythmicity

In sum, disrupted circadian rhythms appear to be both a state marker and a trait of BD. These disruptions of circadian rhythms can arise either via internal desynchrony or environmental desynchrony and can both predispose one to BD, as well as induce bipolar episodes, dependent on the phase relationship between the internal and external circadian rhythms. Resynchronization and normalization of circadian rhythms (chronotherapy) has proven effective in prevention and treatment of bipolar episodes.

There is a paucity of animal studies of BD mainly because there are no animal models that satisfy the validity criteria for modeling this complex multifactorial disorderClockΔ19 mutant mouse, has a fundamentally disrupted molecular circadian clock and restoration of a functional molecular circadian clock to the VTA, likely restoring dopaminergic regulation, ameliorates the mania-like behaviorsClockΔ19 mutant mice have a genetically disrupted circadian clock and already recapitulate many mania-like behaviors based on their inherent internal circadian desynchrony, this model does not lend itself well to studying the effects of environmental circadian disruption on bipolar mania.

Circadian disruption by sleep deprivation can induce a manic-like phenotype in mice (increased aggression and hyperlocomotion), yet these effects are transient and behaviors return to baseline within 24 h

As mentioned, there is a strong genetic component to SZ, and given the extensive disruption of circadian rhythms in this mood disorder, it is not surprising that several core clock genes have been implicated. In a study that examined 276 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 21 circadian genes, significant associations were detected for 8 SNPs from 4 circadian-related genes (Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (RORβ), Per2, Per3, and Neuronal Pas domain protein 2), however, no associations remained significant after correcting for multiple comparisons, suggesting these individual polymorphisms in clock genes are unlikely to confer sizeable (>1.5 OR) risk for SZ

Although light at night from modern electronic devices may be responsible for the circadian disruption affecting the psychiatric diseases discussed above, these devices might also provide the data to help resolve some disease states and improve outcomes. A recent study analyzing digital logon data from nearly 15,000 students reported that circadian disruption (social jet lag) negatively affects learning outcomes, and furthermore that these data could be used to time educational activities to minimize impairments in performance caused by circadian disruption at the individual and population levels

Additionally, future studies should focus on expanding both the clinical and basic science literature in relation to circadian disruption and behavioral health. There are numerous studies in humans examining the effects of shift work on behavioral and psychiatric health, however, the number of studies examining the effects of jet lag on mental health are modest. In 2017, commercial airlines carried more than 4 billion passengers (>50% of the world’s population). Hence, modern air travel has greatly increased the likelihood of experiencing disruption in circadian rhythms. Clinical and basic science research should reflect the increased prospect of experiencing circadian disruption via jet lag. Studies examining the effects of social jet lag on mental health are even more scarce. As noted, ~80% of the population suffers from social jet lag. Thus, it is essential to understand the consequences of social jet lag on behavioral health and appropriately manage them. Ultimately, the expansion of research in this field will broaden our knowledge and may result in novel treatments to improve patients’ quality of life and outcomes.

See Full Reference to sleep problems stemming from electronic devices that emit blue light. Numerous studies have established a link between using devices with screens before bed and increases in sleep latency, or the amount of time it takes someone to fall asleep. Additionally, children who use these devices at night often do not receive enough high-quality sleep and are more likely to feel tired the next day.

See Full Reference. Unlike blue light, red, yellow, and orange light have little to no effect on your circadian rhythm. Dim light with one of these colors is considered optimal for nighttime reading. Portable e-readers like the Kindle and Nook emit blue light, but not to the same extent as other electronic devices. If you prefer to use an e-reader such as a Kindle or Nook, dim the display as much as possible.

Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: A regular bedtime that ensures an adequate amount of rest is essential for healthy sleep. The hour before bed should consist of relaxing activities that don’t involve devices with screens.

See Full Reference reduce blue light emissions and decrease the display’s brightness setting. You should manually dim the display if your device does not automatically adjust the brightness in nighttime mode.

Two experiences have become pretty universal during the pandemic: Screen time has skyrocketed and sleep is disrupted. But is there a correlation between the two?

Ever since research showed negative effects of light-emitting devices on melatonin production, and therefore sleep, pediatricians and sleep experts have been advising families to shut off screens one hour before bedtime. But as work and school have spilled into the home and upended normal routines, this recommendation is becoming unrealistic for many families.