More and people are suffering from insomnia and other sleeping problems. This could be due to them using technology and tablets that produce their own light before they turn in for the night.

If you are using devices that emit light, your body will suppress melatonin which affects your body clock. In fact, using a self-luminous tablet for around 120 minutes before going to bed can suppress melatonin by a massive 22% so you’ll find it more difficult to drift off to sleep.

Melatonin is made by the pineal gland at night time during darkness. It is a hormone sometimes called the timing messenger, as it tells the rest of the body it is time for sleep. Exposure to light at night time, especially short wavelength light, will reduce how much melatonin is produced and give you a disturbed sleep.  

Many people are always within an arm’s reach of their phone when they go to sleep.

• 95% of 18-29 year olds have their mobile phone next to them when they are asleep.
• 25% of people keep their phone on loud when they go to bed
• Meaning 10% of people get woken up by someone ringing, texting or email them.
• Even if they aren’t woken up by their phone, 50% of people will check their phone straight away if they wake up in the night.

It’s not just phones that stop up from sleeping. Television and video consoles are disrupt sleeping patterns. The light from TV’s all produce melatonin as well as increasing your heart rate which all stop you from going to sleep.

As for video games like play stations, the more you play them before bed the less sleep you get and is lower in quality. REM sleep in particular is reduced and this stage of sleep helps us to process new information.

A lack of sleep can cause depression, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

There are things you can do to enjoy a good night’s sleep.

• Read a device like a kindle that has a non-luminous display
• Listen to relaxing music as you go to sleep
• Keep a diary so all your thoughts go out of your head and into something else
• Read your book with an indirect lamp to help you relax.

So remember, stop using the technology before bed, or if you really want to keep using it, use a non-luminous display. Better still listen to music or read a book before catching the zzz’s.

Perhaps the very best thing you can do though is buy a comfortable bed from Premier Stores.