Sleep: How watching TV at night is keeping you awake
Do you love to watch TV before bed? You're not alone. Many people find that watching TV is a relaxing way to wind down after a long day. We also use our shows or movies to spend time with significant others or family. People are busy and don't have time to keep up on their favorite shows. However, did you know that watching TV at night can actually have a negative effect on your sleep?
Here are a few reasons why watching TV at night can make it harder to sleep:
Blue light: The light emitted from TV screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. When melatonin levels are low, it can be harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Overstimulation: Watching TV can be stimulating. It can make it harder for you to feel tired or sleepy enough to try to go to sleep. It can be suspenseful and initiate the fight or flight response and even give you the feeling of being anxious.
Disruption: If you're watching TV in bed, it can be easy to get distracted and stay up later than you intended. You may also find it difficult to fall back asleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.
If you're having trouble sleeping, it's best to avoid watching TV in the hour or two before bed. If you do watch TV at night, try to choose something relaxing and avoid watching anything that is too stimulating. You may also want to consider using a sleep timer so that the TV turns off automatically after a certain amount of time. You may also try wearing blue light blocking glasses to prevent hormone disruptions.
Here are a few tips for improving your sleep in a natural way:
Try to be consistent with your sleep schedule and stick to it as much as possible, even on weekends. Research has shown its better to have the same bedtime each night even if its a later bedtime than it is to change up your routine each night.
Make the hour before bed calming. This could include taking a warm bath, reading a book, listening to calming music, turning down the lights, stretching, practicing breathing techniques, journalling 10 positive things about your day or things your are grateful for.
Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool. according to the sleep foundation the best temperatures for sleep is between 60-68 degrees or 66-69 based on NIH study.
Avoid caffeine or energy drinks after 2 pm and alcohol before bed. We can get over the 2pm brain fog slump in other ways more to come on this topic.
Get regular exercise during the day. Continue to save the hour before bed for calming your nervous system down.
Practice Yoga and Stretching
Meditation and mindfulness are also useful when your mind is very active before bed. It can help pull you out of your thoughts about the day or worrying about what you have to do tomorrow. It helps you be more in the present and have improved connection with your mind and body. If you are not sure how to start you can youtube some great sleep meditations. Just make sure to turn your phone over so you are not getting the bright light from your phone. Use earbuds or headphones if you are worried about interrupting others around you.
See a provider or therapist if you have on going concerns with your sleep.
All this talk about sleep and we have not talked specifically about children. parents that is what is going to be discussed on the next blog! Sleep hygiene is not different for children so all of these tips are for them as well but we will talk more about kids next time!
Active Healing Psychiatric Services can help using an integrated medicine approach based on your individual needs.
Resources:
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/best-temperature-for-sleep#:~:text=The%20best%20room%20temperature%20for,for%20the%20most%20comfortable%20sleep.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6491889/#:~:text=In%20optimal%20room%20temperatures%2C%20approximately,et%20al.%2C%202005).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4734149/
