Smartphone addiction can ruin sleep, study

Experts have a number of times warned against the excess usage of smartphones. A latest study has mentioned that addiction to smartphone will result in poor sleep. The study has been published in the Frontiers in Psychiatry which had studied smartphone use in 1,042 students between the ages 10 and 30 at the King’s College in London. The students were asked to complete two questionnaires that was about their sleep quality and their smartphone usage online and in person.

The questionnaire had ten questions that was developed to study the smartphone addiction in the participants. It was found that nearly 40 percent of the participants were found to be addicted to smartphones. Sei Yon Sohn, the lead author and a medical student from King’s College London said that their estimate prevalence is consistent with other studies that have been reported in the young adult population across the globe and is in the range of 30-40%.

The author added that people who used smartphones beyond 1 am were at a 3 fold increased risk of getting addiction to their smartphones. Students who reported a high smartphone usage had also complained of poor sleep. This fell in line with some of the earlier studies that said that over use of smartphones was associated with trouble in falling asleep, day-time tiredness and reduces sleep duration. Experts have said that usage of smartphones near to bedtime had shown a delay to the circadian rhythm which is the body’s normal sleep-and-wake time.

Dr. Vsevolod Polotsky, who is the director of sleep basic research has opined that the first rule is no computers or other electronic gadgets in bed at least one hour before bed-time. This is because the LED spectrum light source affects the melatonin levels. Melatonin is the sleep hormone that is secreted during the everyday 24 hour circadian rhythm. When the levels peak, the person gets a good night sleep.

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