Why Can’t I Sleep - The Trouble With Screens
The amount of time we all spend on screens has grown exponentially over the past several decades. Concurrently, there has been more attention paid to the importance of sleep, yet our society’s trouble sleeping doesn’t seem to be going away. Screens are a relatively inescapable part of life, and many of us have numerous screens in our bedrooms – televisions, i-pads, phones, etc.
Most of us have gotten the message that being on our phones or on other screens is antithetical to sleep, yet many of us might continue to lean on such devices as a way to wind down. What’s really the harm here? Is it so bad to use a phone to play games or read the news before turning off the lights to go to sleep? After all, many of these devices have options for changing the light settings to block out the most wakeful blue light emitted by the their screens. Unfortunately, simply shifting the light to be warmer is often not enough to change their negative sleep effects.
Why might that be? Well, of course there is a lot of engaging and alerting content that is accessible very easily on any smartphone or internet connected device. Engaging with content that is upsetting, challenging, or alerting in some way is usually antithetical to sleep. Additionally, much of what we can access on our devices is set up to keep us engaged. It might feel easier to passively continue to scroll when we are exhausted than it is to exert the executive control needed to disconnect from the device and turn off the lights.
Another hypothesis regarding the link between insomnia and screen use before bed is that many of our devices hold a conditioned or learned association for us. Think about what you associate with your laptop? With your phone? Is it rest, relaxation, and peace? Or is it work, school, endless emails, and news alerts? When you pick up a device that is used for alerting activities, you are likely having an emotional reaction simply because you are engaging with that device – if you have learned to be alert while doing something, you will continue to be alert when engaging with that thing.
This might be a good time to check in with yourself and think about what you tend to watch, read, or listen to before bed. If you are concerned pre-bed phone use might be contributing to your trouble sleeping, you might consider tracking how much time you are spending on your device at night. Tracking data like this can often help you spot patterns and get ideas about what you might want to do to change them. Once you know how much time you are engaging in screen use before sleep, you might be in a good position to start brainstorming some alternatives to screens before bed.
Individualized cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia will allow you to actively partner with a therapist to target potentially problematic behaviors like phone use and many others that might be contributing to your trouble sleeping. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more.