And wreaks havoc with your sleep cycle
Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash
Are you normally a cheerful person, but suddenly feel sad for no reason? It may not be you – it could very well be too much nighttime screen use.
A while back, I found myself in a low mood. I was feeling down all the time and waking up feeling sad and melancholy. I’m a typically upbeat person, and nothing bad had happened, so this was disturbing. (This was before the pandemic.) I’d been optimistic about life until then.
I spent time obsessing over all my mistakes, and the poor choices I had made in my life up until that point. Even in my dreams, I was playing sad music on a piano. Afterward, I’d wake up weeping.
During the day, I was walking around with that awful feeling of being on the edge of tears. I didn’t even know why.
For three days, I woke up in this melancholy mood – and the third day was the worst of all. I felt like my best years were behind me, and that nothing exciting or worthwhile would happen to me ever again. I couldn’t see my way out of my failures, and my future looked like a dark, heavy cloud of sorrow. My body felt heavy, and I felt unloved, alone, and couldn’t find joy in anything. I grew angry at the smallest things. I was a mess.
Then on the fourth day, I woke up and the mood was gone. It was like waking up to sunshine after a rain.
The entire episode was a mystery to me. Why would a happy person, suddenly fall into despair over nothing? I’m usually a positive person. Nothing drastic or horrible had happened. Everything was going well with my friends, home, and work. Why had I plunged into this episode of self-loathing and despair?
Then something shook my memory. For those three gloomy days, I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep the night before. I’d been awake on the computer all night until the early hours of the morning watching TV series, YouTube videos, reading articles, and interacting with my social media accounts.
When I turned the screens off late at night, I couldn’t doze off. I tossed and turned all night. I began suffering from insomnia. The slightest noise startled me awake, from a cat meowing — to a truck driving past on the street. Nothing helped me sleep. I tried taking a warm shower, praying and meditating but nothing worked.
It’s an awful feeling being up all night, knowing that in an hour the alarm is going to go off to wake you up. With no sleep, it’s impossible to function.
As a result of my poor night’s sleep, I felt groggy the next day. I had a slight sore throat and felt nauseous. In the past, this was typical for me if I didn’t get enough sleep hours in. In the past, when I caught up on sleep the symptoms would always disappear.
The lack of sleep caused more problems. Each night of disrupted sleep led to a sad mood, and inertia — three days of not accomplishing much except for the bare minimum. I didn’t even have the energy to clean up my house. I love working my job, but I didn’t even feel like doing that. This wasn’t like me at all.
I did some research regarding the subject and realized that all that screen time before sleep wasn’t doing me any favors. It was causing my insomnia.
Gazing at screens at night confuses our brains, and can reset our circadian rhythms. When our internal clocks become disrupted, it causes all kinds of health problems. Research (Salk Institute 2018) shows how this nightly screen time adversely affects us. Studies (JMIR Mental Health, 2019) show that lack of sleep can harm people’s moods, contributing to anxiety and depression.
Photo by Zohre Nemati on Unsplash
How things returned to normal.
On the last day after I feeling the worst, I headed up to sleep early. I didn’t look at any screens or check my social media before turning in for the night. I fell asleep easily and had a refreshing night’s rest. I woke up in the morning at my usual time, and that terrible mood had vanished completely. I felt like myself again. Life was great, and I could handle everything. It was like waking up to sunshine after a storm.
It still amazes me how quickly this lack of sleep had negatively impacted my mental health. Just three nights of poor sleep had brought out the worst in me.
Research from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School shows a lack of sleep impacts your health in the following ways:
· Weight gain·
· Issues with concentration and thinking
· Weakened immune system
· Memory problems
· Mood changes
· Accidents
· Increased risk for diabetes
· High blood pressure
In addition to the other problems, lack of sleep can cause people to fall asleep at random moments during the day. This can adversely affect their job performance. Lack of sleep has even been linked to psychosis, (Frontiers in Psychiatry 2018.) When deprived of proper sleep for days, people have had auditory and visual hallucinations.
A new sleep schedule.
I’m thankful that my lack of sleep only impacted my mood. It could have been so much worse.
I’m now on a sleep schedule, turning off my screens before ten p.m. Instead of looking at a screen, I'll read a book or meditate. I’m waking up with the sun, without an alarm, and I feel great and more productive during the day.
It could happen to anyone.
What happened to me could happen to anyone. If you ever should find yourself feeling down or sad for no obvious reason, your screen time hours late at night could be the culprit.
If you’re suffering from insomnia daily, the first thing to do is to make sure you’re getting the proper amount of shut-eye. Turn off the screens early and keep a consistent bedtime, even on the weekends. Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep at night.
You will be amazed at how much better you’ll feel the next day. For we all need our sleep; it’s one of the things that keep us functioning every day. Simply changing our screen time habit can help.
If your low mood persists after limiting your screen time and getting enough sleep, it may be time to see your doctor and check for other causes.