Dr. Anne Marie Morse on the Link Between Screen Time and Sleep Disorders

Many of us wind down our evenings by binge-watching our TV shows, catching up on work emails, texting friends and colleagues, or just scrolling through our favorite social media platforms. However, it is important to remember failing to limit our screen time before bed may disrupt our sleep patterns. Dr. Anne Marie Morse spoke in-depth about the connection between screen time and sleep disorders, and how our electronics may sabotage our nightly rest.

Most of us wind down our evenings by watching TV, scrolling through social media feeds, or catching up on emails and texts. Is nighttime screen use linked with sleep disruption? If so, why?

One of the things that really is hot in the media is always talking about are we spending too much time on our screens? And if so, what is the negative contribution from spending so much time facing the screens? Well, first and foremost, before we even talk about sleep, let’s talk about the fact that it’s negatively impacting our ability to normally socialize. And the reason I’m going to acknowledge that is because socialization is a component of our circadian expression of what we should be doing day and night. Many times we are removing ourselves from opportunities to be able to engage and be active, which is only going to be deleterious to us. Sometimes we’re overlooking this and just blaming it on the blue light or our media frenzy in regards to social media. However, one of the things that we need to consider is we need to get up, get moving, and engage in our days. So before we start putting on blue light filters and just blaming it on their circadian abnormalities, let’s actually unpack all of the factors that are involved.

So first and foremost, one of the things that I’ll state is when we look at the full 24 hours, many times we are forcing ourselves to stay inside, being exposed to artificial light, and that is only being further augmented by the cell or televisions or our computer screens. Our brains are really getting the mixed signals of what exactly time of day is it, and are we in the day or the night? There have been some attempts at trying to be able to further facilitate your brain’s responsiveness to an interior design by incorporating things like dynamic spectral lighting. What is that? It means that during the day, our lights overhead or in front of us are going to be a blue light or a blue wavelength of light. And as we’re getting towards the evening hours, a red wavelength of light. And although our cell phones are also programmed to do very similar activities by incorporating this blue light filter, one of the things that we’re learning is it’s not all having to do with the light. It has to do with what else is giving us our cues for circadian timing and remembering our circadian timing is not just based on our environmental exposure, it’s based on the things we’re engaged in and conditioned to expect.

Now, the final piece that is important to recognize is what is the content of what we’re engaging on those screens? So if you’re the person who’s, “I just get that extra email in,” let me tell you, it’s doing no favors to your cortisol or any of your adrenaline or norepinephrine. It is only going to heighten that emotion and that experience of I’m stressed, I need to respond, I need to do additional things. If you’re a person who’s going, “Well, I just need it to be able to wind down and relax my mind, and so I’m going to do some mindless scrolling,” please be reminded that these social media applications have been designed purposely to reflect something else that is highly addictive. Yes, you’re correct. It is the slot machines and we’re going to keep scrolling and it’s going to provide that same intermittent reward that actually leads to a higher likelihood of addiction and dopamine surge, which is going to make it less likely for us to be able to say, “I’m just going to do this for the next 15, 20 minutes,” and then somehow find ourselves two to three hours later mindlessly scrolling for that same intermittent reward that is only going to cause us to be distracted from being able to fall asleep.

Now, with that stated, and I guilty of this pleasure as well 100%, but with limits are always necessary. Making sure that you’re considering utilizing things definitely outside of your bed. Remembering your bed is a sacred place for sleep and sex if you’re over 18. And again, that’s up to you. It’s not anything to do with me.

Now, with that stated, being able to make sure you’re putting some parameters on when you’re utilizing it, how long you’re utilizing it, and also making sure that your next steps include your wind down activities to be able to fall asleep. If you’re finding that you’re consistently having difficulties, don’t just think that you need to put on some blue light glasses or put on a filter or pop some melatonin. Make sure you’re actually doing an evaluation and maintaining some form of symptom diary to evaluate what the struggle you’re actually experiencing. Some people may be experiencing difficulties falling asleep. Others may have difficulties staying asleep, earlier awakenings, or just having a dissatisfaction with the quality of sleep or their duration, resulting in some adverse experience during the day. So it’s really important that when you are looking at what the impact of social media or screen time or any of these other activities are that you’re really looking at the full detriment that we’re experiencing.

It’s also important to remember that this is not a one-size-fits-all. Everyone has different exposures and different experiences with us. What I will say is that when studied, even in young children, when we’re limiting the amount of screen time, we do see that there is a secondary benefit to overall total sleep time and quality of sleep. And this is irrespective of the timing of that screen time. So it is important for you to just make sure that you’re giving yourself a good overall maintenance and making sure that you’re taking advantage of those hours in the day to live your best life so that you can have your best night’s sleep.