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By Lo Pi and Sam Garcia / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Using a smartphone before going to sleep can prevent the brain from entering a rest state and might harm sleep quality, disrupt autonomic nervous system regulation and cause heart palpitations, chest tightness, irritability and poor concentration, a psychiatrist said on Saturday.
Many people use smartphones as they lie in bed before going to sleep, believing that watching short videos, replying to messages or browsing social media is a way to relax.
However, people often end up staying up late, leaving them even more tired the next morning, psychiatrist Yu Kuan-tang (尤冠棠) said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The human brain and biological clock are attuned to daylight, with sunlight helping to maintain alertness and focus, while the body begins to release melatonin and transition into a resting state after dark, said Yu, an adjunct physician at Dr Chou’s Mental Health Clinic.
Using electronic devices for long periods at night keeps the brain stimulated, he said.
In particular, the blue light from smartphone screens can suppress melatonin secretion and delay the body’s biological clock, making it difficult to feel sleepy, he said.
The light from smartphones disrupts the brain’s natural rhythm and keeps the brain in an active state, Yu said.
Sleep research has shown that if the brain continues to process information and rapidly switches between topics, it stays in a state of cognitive arousal, making it difficult to transition smoothly into a resting state, he said.
Short videos, social media, messaging apps and news all keep the brain waiting for the next piece of information, preventing the brain’s alert system from shutting down, he added.
Using a phone while lying in bed disrupts sleep more than using a phone at night in general, because it weakens the brain’s association between bed and sleep, Yu said.
When sleep deprivation builds up, the body’s ability to recover declines and the autonomic nervous system becomes harder to regulate, he said.
Sleep-deprived people often experience heart palpitations, chest tightness, neck and shoulder tension, gastrointestinal discomfort, irritability and poor concentration, he said.
Many people mistake these for symptoms of stress when they are actually linked to chronic sleep deprivation, he added.
Establishing a bedtime routine can improve sleep quality, Yu said, advising people to reduce screen exposure to 30 to 60 minutes before sleep, limit social media use, avoid bringing their phones into their beds and turn off alerts so their brains can gradually receive signals that it is time to rest.
