Excessive use of social media is bad for sleep and mental health

Utilization Social media It has become one of the most popular hobbies among teens and adults over the past few years. Recent research shows that 81% of young adults routinely use hammocks and 60% report using hammocks in the hour before bedtime.

With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, social relations have been largely maintained with the support of these tools. There has been a significant increase in use not only by teenagers, but also by children and the elderly.

In the past decade, some studies have shown that too much time on social media leads to a Poor quality and quantity of sleepLate and irregular sleep times and greater difficulty falling asleep.

One of the classic guidelines sleep hygiene It is to stop using electronics at least an hour before bedtime so as not to disturb the correct release of the hormone melatonin.

+ Read more about sleep disorders here

Light and the reactive activity of electronic devices (cell phones, tablets, laptops …) have the ability to inhibit their production, and therefore make it difficult to fall asleep.

It turns out that, compared to other software and apps, social media deals more with nighttime rest.

There is a constant incentive to stay awake through the information and images that these networks provide. Normal feed Infinite, they always make you want to see another post or reply to a message.

There is then a mismatch: the brain needs to relax, but the bombardment of the media doesn’t allow it.

Even at dawn, they can disrupt sleep by setting off alarms or lights on the mobile screen to let you know that you have a new post or message waiting for you. This causes several waking up.

Sleep is vital Learning, memory, and regulation of emotions and behavior, among other effects. Thus, deprivation, quantitatively or qualitatively, can lead, for example, to daytime fatigue, mood swings, weight gain, depression, and sleep problems. school performance.

A study published in 2021 suggests that setting regular times that parents suggest to start falling asleep, avoiding smartphone use one hour before bed and not leaving it by the bed at night, not only improves rest quality but also improves performance in school.

Another study with teenagers found an association between spending more time on social networks and more time body weight. Recently, a review of the literature concluded that excessive use of these media could indeed be considered a risk factor for sleep disorders and mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.

In the face of all these findings, here’s a call to you, the reader and netizen: How about trying to separate yourself from screens at least an hour before bed? Be a role model at home and the health of the whole family will thank you.

* Sandra Doria, MD, is a board-certified otolaryngologist in sleep medicine and a physician at Instituto Sono in São Paulo.