display screens disrupt sllep free sample

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.

Previous studies have already shown that watching screens before going to sleep damages our sleep. It has also been found that exposure to blue light with wave lengths of 450-500 nanometers suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone secreted at night that is connected with normal body cycles and sleep. The new study, published in the journal Chronobiology International, was undertaken by researchers Prof. Abraham Haim, head of the Israeli center for interdisciplinary research in chronobiology at the University of Haifa; doctorate student Amit Shai Green of the Center for Interdisciplinary Chronobiological Research at the University of Haifa and the Sleep and Fatigue Center at Assuta Medical Center; Dr. Merav Cohen-Zion of the School of Behavioral Sciences at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo; and Prof. Yaron Dagan of the Research Institute for Applied Chronobiology at Tel Hai Academic College. The researchers sought to examine whether there is any difference in sleep patterns following exposure to blue screen light as compared to red light prior to sleep, and furthermore, to find which is more disruptive: wavelength or intensity?

The study participants were 19 healthy subjects aged 20-29 who were not aware of the purpose of the study. In the first part of the trial, the participants wore an actigraph for one week (an actigraph is a device that provides an objective measurement of the time when an individual falls asleep and wakes up). They also completed a sleep diary and a questionnaire about their sleeping habits and quality of sleep. In the second part of the trial, which took place at Assuta"s Sleep Laboratory, the participants were exposed to computer screens from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- the hours when the pineal gland begins to produce and excrete melatonin. The participants were exposed to four types of light: high-intensity blue light, low-intensity blue light, high-intensity red light, and low-intensity red light. Following exposure to light, they were connected to instruments that measure brain waves and can determine the stages of sleep a person undergoes during the course of the night, including awakenings not noticed by the participants themselves. In the morning, the participants completed various questionnaires relating to their feelings.

On average, exposure to blue light reduced the duration of sleep by approximately 16 minutes. In addition, exposure to blue light significantly reduced the production of melatonin, whereas exposure to red light showed a very similar level of melatonin production to the normal situation. The researchers explain that the impaired production of melatonin reflects substantial disruption of the natural mechanisms and the body"s biological clock. Thus, for example, it was found that exposure to blue light prevents the body from activating the natural mechanism that reduces body temperature. "Naturally, when the body moves into sleep it begins to reduce its temperature, reaching the lowest point at around 4:00 a.m. When the body returns to its normal temperature, we wake up," Prof. Haim explains. "After exposure to red light, the body continued to behave naturally, but exposure to blue light led the body to maintain its normal temperature throughout the night -- further evidence of damage to our natural biological clock."

The most significant finding in terms of the disruption of sleep was that exposure to blue light drastically disrupts the continuity of sleep. Whereas after exposure to red light (at both intensities) people woke up an average of 4.5 times (unnoticed awakenings), following exposure to weak blue light 6.7 awakenings were recorded, rising to as many as 7.6 awakenings following exposure to strong blue light. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that the participants reported in the questionnaires that the felt more tired and in a worse mood after exposure to blue light.

"Exposure to screens during the day in general, and at night in particular, is an integral part of our technologically advanced world and will only become more intense in the future. However, our study shows that it is not the screens themselves that damage our biological clock, and therefore our sleep, but the short-wave blue light that they emit. Fortunately various applications are available that filter the problematic blue light on the spectrum and replace it with weak red light, thereby reducing the damage to the suppression of melatonin," concludes Prof. Haim.

Here are ways you can reduce the negative effects of screen time on your child’s sleep:Avoid digital technology use in the hour before bedtime. This includes mobile phones, tablets, computer screens and TV. Encourage reading or quiet play instead.

Several studies have found that pre-sleep exposure to blue light, which is produced by laptop and smartphone screens, can make people less sleepy and affect the quality of their rest. One of the supposed mechanisms for this is that the blue light makes bodily systems block the hormone melatonin that usually makes you feel drowsy.

The study also suggests that blue light’s effect on sleep may be driven by other eye cells in addition to ipRGCs, she says. Blume adds that had they kept the screens turned on for a longer time or closer to bedtime, it may have taken longer for the participants to fall asleep.

Parents, educators, and clinicians express concern about whether excessive use of screen media among young people affects sleep and wellbeing. In this article, we provide an overview of the current science on screens and sleep, with a focus on recommendations to reduce the potentially problematic influence of screen time on pediatric sleep. We then review how impaired sleep in pediatric populations may lead to a range of adverse behaviors, physical health problems and well-being outcomes. We begin with a summary of the two consensus statements on child and adolescent sleep needs. Then we summarize the range of screen habits among youth, focusing on screen habits at bedtime. Next, we review current literature on evidence of the effects of youth screen habits on sleep, and the mechanisms by which screen habits may impact sleep. We conclude with evidence-based strategies to improve sleep through sleep-friendly screen-behavior recommendations and other take-home messages for families and practitioners.

Exposure to the light emitted by screens in the evening hours before and/or during bedtime is another likely mechanism by which use of screen media negatively impacts sleep. Screen-based light may affect sleep via several pathways:increasing arousal and reducing sleepiness at bedtime,

Clinicians can help families improve their sleep health and screen media habits by encouraging parenting marked by high levels of warmth and support, as well as limits that are clearly communicated, consistently applied appropriate to the child’s behavior and context, and allow for developmentally appropriate autonomy(i.e. an authoritative parenting style). Box 1) All parents should begin instilling family bedtime routines and healthy sleep habits early in life, and adjust these routines as youth mature (See Box 2). If the youth health behaviors and habits become part of the child’s own daily routine, she will be better able to take charge of her own sleep health behaviors when this becomes appropriate in later years. For younger children, these routines mean establishing household rules related to screens and sleep early on. For older children and adolescents, they involve open conversation about the core reasons for behaviors. This proactive and engaged parenting style promotes cooperation and parent-child shared goals for children’s health and well-being, and aims to help children develop self-regulation skills, and eventually increasing autonomy to govern their own behavior.

For teenagers presenting with excessive screen time, a few clinical pearls may help families to follow the recommendations laid out in Box 1 and 2, below. First, one must always focus on the chief complaint, what brought the patient to seek help in the first place. In cases of excessive nighttime screen media use, children and adolescents are often seen in the clinician’s office for poor academic performance or lack of concentration in school. Upon taking a careful history, the clinician often discovers a significant lack of sleep, often attributable to patients staying up late while using mobile devices, computers, or videogames. Clinicians must discover the underlying factors (e.g., social or family stress) which drive the patient to use the screens in the late hours. Addressing such factors directly may be essential to motivating families to achieve healthier screen habits.

The currently-supported mechanisms underlying the relationship between screen media habits and sleep outcomes include (1) displacement of time spent sleeping by time spent using screens, (2) psychological stimulation from screen-media content, and (3) alerting and circadian effects of exposure to light from screens.

6. Falbe J, et al. Sleep duration, restfulness, and screens in the sleep environment. Pediatrics.2015;135:e367–375. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-2306. PubMed] [CrossRef]

39. Chaput JP, et al. Electronic screens in children’s bedrooms and adiposity, physical activity and sleep: do the number and type of electronic devices matter? Can J Public Health.2014;105:e273–279. PubMed]

61. Higuchi S, Motohashi Y, Liu Y, Maeda A. Effects of playing a computer game using a bright display on presleep physiological variables, sleep latency, slow wave sleep and REM sleep. J Sleep Res.2005;14:267–273. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2005.00463.x. [PubMed] [CrossRef]

84. Higuchi S, Motohashi Y, Liu Y, Ahara M, Kaneko Y. Effects of VDT tasks with a bright display at night on melatonin, core temperature, heart rate, and sleepiness. J Appl Physiol (1985)2003;94:1773–1776. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00616.2002. [PubMed] [CrossRef]

Technology helps facilitate education, communication, and entertainment, and technological devices have become a crucial element of navigating daily life. However, some devices may interrupt or negatively impact sleeping patterns. These include laptops, tablets, smartphones, and televisions – all of which feature screens that emit blue light. Overexposure to blue light in the evening can make it more difficult to fall and remain asleep.

Many electronic devices come equipped with “nighttime modes”, which can be activated to project less light from their screens. Nighttime modes may not be effective for improving sleep on their own. For example, one study focused on the Night Shift mode for iPad tablets. Researchers found that using Night Shift mode and adjusting the device’s brightness settings are both needed to reduce melatonin suppression for nighttime users.

Sleep is a critical aspect of health. One study found that children who watched more television, used a computer, played video games, or used their cell phones before bedtime not only experienced disruptions to sleep quality and quantity, but were also more likely to be overweight. These children were also more likely to feel tired in the morning and skip breakfast, a habit that has been linked to weight gain. Obesity can increase the likelihood of experiencing obstructive sleep apnea, which disrupts sleep and can lead to morning headaches.

Experts recommend that children and teens keep screens out of the bedroom and aim to stop using electronic devices at least 30 to 60 minutes before bed. These recommendations are a good place to start for adults as well.

For some, eliminating screens from the bedroom may not be possible due to work or family commitments. However, it is important to set a distinct time between device use and sleep. If you do keep your device in your room, consider turning off lights and silencing notifications.

Blue lightis a segment of the visible light spectrum responsible for keeping you alert. It’s naturally present in sunlight, but is also concentrated in the light that comes out of the LED screens on the digital devices you use – phones, tablets and laptops.

Most of today’s electronic devices have LED back-lit screens to enhance brightness and color resolution. However, LED lights emit strong high-energy visible light waves, exposing us to more artificial sources of blue light than ever before.

Inhibits melatonin production:Blue light tells our body when we need to be awake - at sunrise for example. However, when we are exposed to artificial blue light it can affect our physiology in unnatural ways. Studies show that looking at screens caninterfere with the production of melatonin, the chemical responsible for helping you sleep.

Disrupts circadian rhythm:Daylight keeps a person"s internal clock (aka circadian rhythm) aligned with the environment. However, in today’s world we are subjected to more artificial sources of blue light than ever before. This can disrupt our natural circadian rhythm and make it more difficult to fall asleep at a regular time each night.

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.

It’s become a virtually unchallenged piece of conventional wisdom that exposure to blue light—the type emitted by electronic device screens—is bad for sleep. That thinking has spurred a mini-industry of innovations meant to stop those effects, like warm-toned “night mode” settings on gadgets and glasses thatclaim to block blue light.

There are plenty of reasons other than sleeplessness to not spend all your time staring at screens, from possiblemental health consequences to their correlation witha sedentary lifestyle. But in terms of eye health, there’s no reason to spend your time and money looking for blue-light-filtering glasses or gadgets, says Dr. Matthew Gardiner, an ophthalmologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. While some people report improvements in eye-strain orheadaches after using these products, Gardiner says there’s no research to suggest blue light damages your eyes. “If you feel more comfortable, then that’s fine, but it does not do anything for the health of your eyes,” he says.

Screens are a part of everyone’s life these days. While there is growing evidence showing the negative effects of screen time on adults and children, your family can improve their health by cutting back on the amount of time spent in front of the screen. Learn the negative effects of prolonged screen time and tips to help limit electronics use.

Sleep problems. The light emitted from electronic devices interferes with the brain’s sleep cycle and can prevent getting a good night’s sleep. To sleep more soundly, keep screens out of the bedroom and avoid them for at least an hour before you climb into bed.

Depression and anxiety. All the time spent in front of screens can negatively affect your mental and emotional wellbeing. Experts suggest that higher screen time and depression could be connected along with an increase in suicidal behaviors and lower one’s ability to read emotions in general.

So, what is the ideal amount of screen time? While it sounds like a simple question, the “just right” amount often depends on what type of screen a person is looking at and why they are looking at it. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends avoiding screens for children younger than 18 to 24 months. Children over age 2 should be limited to 1 to 2 hours of screen time per day. Adults should also try to limit their screen time outside of work hours.

"We are continuously exposed to artificial light, whether from screen time, spending the day indoors or staying awake late at night," says Salk Professor Satchin Panda, senior author of the study. "This lifestyle causes disruptions to our circadian rhythms and has deleterious consequences on health."

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.”

Several studies have found that pre-sleep exposure to blue light, which is produced by laptop and smartphone screens, can make people less sleepy and affect the quality of their rest. One of the supposed mechanisms for this is that the blue light makes bodily systems block the hormone melatonin that usually makes you feel drowsy.

The study also suggests that blue light’s effect on sleep may be driven by other eye cells in addition to ipRGCs, she says. Blume adds that had they kept the screens turned on for a longer time or closer to bedtime, it may have taken longer for the participants to fall asleep.

There are various products on the market designed to reduce ambient artificial light pollution. F.Lux is a free software program that filters blue light from computer screens. "Smart bulbs" automatically dims light bulbs with the setting of the sun. At the Consumer Electronics Show, health tracker startup, Misfit, has launched a smart bulb that is timed to change colors with a user"s sleeping patterns.

But the best solution is also the most low-tech: "blue blocker" sunglasses. These awkward, wide-lens, orange-tinted sunglasses look like they fell out of a Miami Vice fan club for cataract patients, but they work wonders. Without blue blockers, study participants experienced a 46 percent reduction in the brain"s sleep chemical, melatonin. As such, they"ve been successfully used to improve ADHD symptoms in sleep-deprived youth. Another study found that they "may be useful in adolescents as a countermeasure for alerting effects induced by light exposure through LED screens."

Nap! A nap lasting 15-45 minutes can give you energy, make you more alert and improve mental performance. But beware: naps longer than 45 minutes (after you enter deep sleep) may actually leave you feeling more groggy and tired! Avoid late afternoon and evening naps, which can disrupt night sleep.

Turn off screens30-60 minutes before bed: Staring at your TV, computer, or tablet screen can disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle and make it harder to fall asleep. If you can’t turn off the tech, dim your screen, put your phone on silent, or use the “Do not disturb” option on your phone.

Rethink your drink:  Both caffeine and alcohol can disrupt your sleep. Caffeine stays in your system for up to eight hours and can keep you awake. Alcohol, though it may make you feel drowsy, decreases sleep duration and quality.

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.

The average American spends more than 10 hours a day using technology. That includes computers, smartphones, tablets and TV. More specifically, 90% use electronics before bed on a regular basis. Unfortunately, sleep quality is impacted by the use of technology by disrupting circadian rhythms, decrease the amount of REM sleep, keeping the brain active into the night and interrupting sleep patterns.

It has become normal for most people to watch TV in bed and sleep with their cell phone on the nightstand. But this trend of going to bed with our technology has a negative impact on the amount and quality of sleep that we get. In fact, sleep deprivation has risen as smartphone use has increased in this country. Now, the experts are recommending that we keep technology out of the bedroom and take a break from screens in the evening.

Recent research has shown that using smartphones and other devices before going to bed has a direct correlation with sleep loss. You may have heard that this is because of the blue light produced by screens.

Computers, tablets, television screens and smartphones emit short-wave, blue light. By delaying the release of the hormone melatonin, scientists say that it interferes with our circadian clock is set. The circadian rhythm is important because it controls our biological, light/dark sleep cycle and it is regulated by melatonin.

Make a place in a common area of the house reserved for charging electronic devices and phones at night. This will help ensure that they do not disrupt sleep for your family. Putting smartphones on sleep mode can also keep notifications from waking you up, even from the other room.