Smartphones Can Affect Our Sleep Cycles
Scientists have established that the light from phones, tablets, and computer screens impacts our ability to fall asleep. Many people struggle with putting down their phones before bed which is an issue as several studies have revealed that using LCD screens, especially close to your face, can upset your natural sleep cycle. The blue light they give off disrupts the production of melatonin in our body, the hormone that induces sleep. Our eyes are accustomed to absorbing blue light from the sun during daylight hours, so when we take this in at night, our brain is tricked into thinking it is still daytime, and we wake up the next morning feeling groggy and not refreshed.
Can’t let go of your phone before bed? Switch on the “night mode”, so when the sun goes down, so does the blue light. Apple’s iOS has ‘Night Shift’, which lets you dim the amount of blue light you see during certain times of day; Android has ‘Night Mode’ and Amazon ‘Blue Shade’ for its Fire tablets.
