How Watching TV Affects Sleep

One more episode and I promise I will go to sleep is a phrase I said as a child to my parents on a regular basis before bed and now find myself as an adult saying the same thing.

Studies show 60% of us watch TV an hour before and the reason we do this is to help unwind after our day.

Do you remember hearing the saying ‘Don’t sit too close to the TV or you will ruin your eyesight?’

Have you ever thought what exactly that blue light of our TV’s does to us before we go to sleep?

The blue light doesn’t only come from our TV, but our phones, tablets, gaming systems.

In order to get a better sleep we need to understand the impact watching TV and using our mobiles has on our sleep.

Let’s take a look at the two main issues caused by blue light.

Disrupts your sleep hormone

Watching TV before bed can have a major negative impact on your sleep and hormones. The hormone Melatonin which helps us sleep at night has been proven to decrease which can lead to sleep deprivation and insomnia because while sitting in front of the TV at night it tricks our body into still thinking it is day time, not only that but it can also have an effect on our health and appearance too.

Harder to get to sleep

The recommend sleep time is 7-9 hours, watching TV doesn’t help get those 7-9 hours, you could have a cliffhanger of a TV show that makes you want to keep watching or you just aren’t ready to go to sleep, the reason causing this is flashing and noise coming from the TV which isn’t the wind down you need before you go to bed.

Are there any benefits?

A lot of people suffer with anxiety and find falling asleep with the TV noise in the background can help them, the TV noise helps distract them from thoughts or feelings with anxiety and helps them rest and easily get to sleep.

Recommendations

It is recommended to set down all electronics and turn off the TV an hour before bed to help you sleep better at night even if you have to set an alarm for yourself an hour before as a reminder.

Other ways to help yourself are buying a pair of blue light glasses which seem to be very popular at the moment. The lens are brown tinted which helps with reducing the blue light effecting your eyes.

Diming the brightness on your TV / Phone is a big help too or changing your phones background to dark mode.