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Experts recommend it. Pay attention to the exposure to “blue” light from electronic devices, especially in the evening but not only. The quality and in some cases also the quantity of sleep is at stake. Anyone who has a hard time falling placidly into Morpheus’ arms should really be careful not to overdo it tablet and smartphone. This is recalled once more by a study published in Sleep and conducted in Italy, in the first period of lock down, when the volume of traffic on the network almost doubled compared to the previous year.
A two-stage survey
The research published in Sleep was conducted by scholars from the Laboratory of Sleep Psychophysiology and Cognitive Neuroscience of the Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology of the University of L’Aquila. Over 2100 Italians were examined in the third and seventh week of “closure”, with tests on sleep quality and disorders related to insomnia. In the second phase, the use of electronic devices in the two hours before closing the eyelids was studied in particular, together with the classic questionnaires. According to the analysis, in over nine out of ten people the lock down has led to an increase in smartphones and tablets near the time of night rest.
Those who developed this tendency typically reported decreased sleep quality, increased insomnia symptoms, shorter total sleep times, and later bedtime and wake-up times. In addition, the researchers found more cases of subjects sleeping poorly and of respondents with moderate to severe symptoms of insomnia only within this group of respondents. On the contrary, those few who instead limited and even decreased the time spent in front of the screens between the first and the second survey found an improvement in the quality of sleep and fewer annoyances related to insomnia, even going to rest earlier. Finally, those who have not changed their habits in terms of using devices have not had repercussions on the quantity and quality of sleep, which in some cases has even improved.
Beware of habits
In short, even the light, like stress and other factors, it affects the quality of our sleep because the system that regulates it is very delicate. Alterations in normal habits, stress, anxiety, fears for the future can heavily affect the quantity and quality of night’s rest. We take care to avoid excesses of information and not to stay for hours in front of the TV or tablets and smartphones. But above all let us remember that thephysical activity, better if not just before bedtime, it is of great help to “tire” the body.
And then, especially in this season of “reopening”, remember that it is always important to go to bed in the time slot our body is used to: if we normally rest shortly after dinner, we must continue to behave in this way, as if we are “Night owls” we must not anticipate too much in an attempt to counteract insomnia. And then let’s not forget that this, like other studies, show a correlation between the habits of staying fixed in front of tablets and smartphones with the risk of sleeping little and badly. Let’s get used to moderation.
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