In
an age where smartphones are always beside their owners, who does not keep them
in close proximity while sleeping? Smartphones have replaced so many
traditional devices that we use at night watches, alarm clocks, calendars,
flashlights, nightstand books, etc., that separating ourselves from them, even
while we sleep, seems almost impossible. Shepard Smith of Fox News admits
to using his phone throughout the day from early in the morning right until
bedtime to consume information. We all do the same, and leave our phones to
charge at night, right beside us, because, of course, we need them.
However,
just because it is common to sleep next to our phones, does not mean it is
what is best for us. Studies show that our constant need and ability to stay
connected creates stresses of its own. These studies provide evidence to
show that the radiation phones emit affects the quality of our sleep.
Smartphones
allow us read and to share things wherever we are, right from our fingertips,
feeding our growing need to always stay connected. As Shepard said, we live in
a “bloated media universe” — there is too much information, and we are
constantly scrambling to consume and share it. Shepard himself consumes news
from various sources first thing in the morning on his phone, reads things
throughout the day on his different devices, and then does a “final lap” at
night on his Samsung Galaxy before sleeping to ensure that “nothing blew up”
that he “needed to stay up for.” We do the same thing ourselves by checking our
Facebook and Twitter feeds, our emails and messages, or our news-related
applications throughout the day, right before bed, and even in the middle of
our sleep!
Research shows that mobile phones pump out electromagnetic
radiation, which delays and disrupts sleep. Radiation interferes with our
body’s ability to repair itself from any damage suffered throughout the day.
Professor Arnetz, Swedish professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, who led a study on the impact of cell
phone radiation, said that radiation can also impact the brain’s stress system.
Couple the stress caused by radiation with the fact that our phones inherently
bring us stress by allowing us to check and recheck all our applications, and
we are now in an infinite loop of anxiety. This keeps us extremely alert and
makes it difficult to wind down for the day and fall asleep.
The
study led by Arnetz, sponsored by mobile phone companies, found that using a
handset right before bed prolongs the amount of time it takes for people to reach
a deep state of sleep. This research is significant because anything that
disrupts the quality of our sleep impacts our attentiveness and irritability in
the short and long term. In fact, sleeping with phones is especially bad for
kids and teenagers who typically need more sleep than adults, (and who
statistically sleep with their phones close to their heads more than adults).
It can cause mood and personality changes, ADHD-like symptoms, and depression
in kids.
So
what can we do to reduce cell phones’ adverse impact on our sleep cycles? The
extreme solution would be to keep all of our electronic devices in a separate
room. However, this might not be the most practical solution as, well, we’re
hooked onto our devices! Another possibility is to leave it a few feet away
from our beds. Still another way is to keep it next to us while sleeping, but
to turn it on airplane mode. This way, basic features like the alarm clock will
work, but the transmission will be suspended such that the phone’s radiation
will have minimal affect on us. Other habits we can try to change include
making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of times we check and recheck
our email, Facebook, and Twitter feeds. If we did not see it before 11 p.m., it
can wait until tomorrow.
No
doubt, the issue of sleeping with our smartphones is part of a larger issue we
face as a society by being hooked to all our devices 24/7. Previous theories of
cell phones causing brain cancer have not been proven and hence, we must not be
paranoid about the way phones affects our every move. However, productive sleep
in particular is critical in helping our bodies recover from the stresses of
the day. Being anxious and checking our phones before and during sleep, along with
the fact that phones emit radiation, means that reaching a state of deep sleep
is difficult. Hence, little by little, we should make a conscious effort to
limit the negative effects of sleeping close to our phones every night.
