During her recent Q&A with Mammoth, Dr. Nicola Barclay, Sleep Scientist and Psychologist, explores the impact of technology in the bedroom and how to avoid your devices affecting your sleep quality.
“If we’re using digital devices that emit lots of blue light, so blue light is on the light spectrum that is most potent to the circadian rhythm, it really stimulates the cells of the super charismatic nucleus and is very strong at inhibiting melatonin. So melatonin is that hormone that is released in the evening that helps us chemically feel sleepy and naturally feel sleepy. So if melatonin is inhibited during those early evening hours, it is going to delay sleep onset so using these devices close to the eyes in those three hours leading up to bedtime can delay sleep onset and make it difficult to get to sleep.
So my recommendation would be to use screens that are blue-blocking or use blue-blocking glasses during those evening hours. But it’s not just about the light, it’s about the arousal from whatever it is that you’re doing, whether it is that you’re checking emails and still working in those evening hours or if you’re playing a game that is mentally stimulating and exciting and you’re having a physiological response to that excitement of playing these games or having a text conversation with a loved one that might be stressful or require you to really think things through and think about emotional stresses, so it’s partly about the arousal and stimulation and also the light.”
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