Mindlessly scrolling through your phone at bedtime is bad for your health
MIAMI - It's something a lot of us do. To wind down at bedtime, we mindlessly scroll through our phones until we begin to fall asleep.
But just how 'mindless' is it?
"What you are telling your mind is pay attention, be engaged. When you do that, your mind is not going to go to sleep," said neuropsychologist Dr. Judy Ho.
Active screen time, where you're scrolling or communicating, overstimulates the brain. Not only does it keep you awake, but it can also linked to high stress and depressive symptoms.
"You may still fall asleep because you're just so exhausted, but that sleep is not restful and you're more likely to get interrupted sleep," said Dr. Ho.
In fact, how you sleep is more important than how many hours you get.
Dr. Aneesa Das, who specializes in sleep medicine, said that light itself impacts your quality of rest.
"We want bright light in the morning which helps amplify our drive, and we want to decrease the amount of light in the evening," said Dr. Das.
And that includes your phone. When you turn the lights off, your body knows it's time to sleep, but the blue light from your phone mimics daylight and can keep you awake as you keep scrolling.
When it comes to young people, new research shows teens who used screens to communicate or play video games in the hour before bed took 30 minutes longer to fall asleep.
For people of all ages, over time bad sleep can translate into bad health.
"When you have chronically poor sleep it's linked to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease," said Dr. Ho.
Doctors recommend putting down devices 30 minutes to an hour before bed and finding a nighttime routine without a screen.