Smartphone addiction: The effect on sleep and what you can do



The study, published Tuesday in the frontiers of psychiatry, looked at smartphone use among 1,043 students aged 18 to 30 at King’s College College London. The researchers asked students to complete two questionnaires on the quality of their sleep and smartphone usage, individually and online.

Using valid 10-question standard standards developed to assess smartphone addiction in children, about 40% of university students qualify as “addicted” to smartphones, the study found.

“Our projected coverage is consistent with other reported studies of young adults globally, ranging in the range of 30-645%,” said Sei Yon Sohne, lead author and medical student at King’s College College Ledger, and her colleagues in the study.

“Back-to-back use time was also significantly associated with smartphone addiction, with the risk of a 3-fold increase in usage after 1 p.m.,” the authors wrote.

Students who have reported increased use of cellphones have also reported lower sleep quality. This is in line with previous studies that have found that excessive use of smartphones at night is associated with falling asleep, reduced sleep duration and daytime fatigue. This is possible because the use of smartphones near bedtime has been shown to delay the body’s normal sleep and waking clock, the circadian rhythm.
Experts say pay attention to changing your screen to gray scale mode, which will make it less attractive.
In fact, the number 1 rule is that “there are no computers, cell phones and PDAs in bed and at least one hour before bed time”. Vesevalod Polotsky, who directs the original research on sleep in the Department of Pulmonary and Complex Care Medicine. At Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, CNN said in a recent interview.

“Any LED spectrum light source can further suppress melatonin levels,” Poloski said. Melatonin secreted in a 24-hour circadian rhythm every day is often referred to as the “sleep hormone” because we sleep better when night levels are high.

Feedback about the study

“This is a cross-sectional study and cannot lead to any concrete conclusions about phone usage due to the declining quality of sleep,” said Bob Potton, a lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Surrey, via email.

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“However, it does provide some compelling evidence that the nature of smartphone use and its associated consequences is an important consideration in considering the mer recruitment phenomenon of smartphone addiction,” said Pattan, who leads for drugs, alcohol and addictive behaviors. Research group at the university.

Andrew Prozibalski, a senior research fellow and associate professor at Oxford University, disagreed that science recognized any so-called “smartphone addiction” because it was “not recognized by any global health organization and is not a mental disorder.”

“Readers should be wary of any concrete conclusions about the impact of the use of smart phones in the general population, or the idea that they are addictive in any objective sense, based on this work,” the director also said. Research at the Oxford Internet Institute, via email.

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The authors acknowledged the limitations of their study, but said: “Smartphone addiction should be firmly established as a center of clinical concern for those who use their phones after midnight or use their phones for 4 or more hours a day.”

Fight back to get ZZs

Cellphone addiction is also known as nomophobia, which is the phobia of mobile phones – the 21st century term for fear of not being able to use your cellphone or other smart device. Are you one of the addicts? There is a quiz that you can take to find out.
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If you, or a loved one, seem to have symptoms of a smart device or internet addiction, experts have some suggestions.

Schedule timeout. First, turn off your phone at certain times of the day, such as when you go to meetings, have dinner, play with your kids, and of course, drive.

Restrict apps from mobile devices. Remove social media apps like Facebook and Twitter from your phone and just check in from your laptop. At certain times of the day when it will not affect work or family life, try to release yourself at 15-minute intervals.

Go to the gray scale. Experts suggest turning black and white. Beautiful colors are attractive, while gray is boring.

Substitute. Try replacing your smart device time with healthy activities such as meditation or interacting with real people.

Improve sleep. Do not bring your cellphone and its harmful blue light to bed. Use old-fashioned alarms to wake you up.

You can also sign up CNN’s newsletter series Sleep, but Better. We’ll teach you the top tips to improve your ZZs.

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