Phone use at night is the primary habit disrupting sleep quality in Americans, according to Dr. Wendy Troxel, a licensed clinical psychologist and senior behavioral scientist at RAND based in Utah. She notes that while most people are aware of this issue, it remains the leading contributor to interrupted and poor-quality sleep among Americans.
Blue Light and Stimulating Content
About 90% of Americans are using their phones in bed, according to Troxel. The disruption from phones is driven by two factors: blue light exposure and stimulating content. Blue light emitted from devices can suppress melatonin, the hormone of darkness, which is essential for sleep. However, the problem extends beyond light exposure. “It’s really the stimulating content that we’re consuming on social media, which is designed to be addictive, so that you can’t put that phone down,” Troxel explained. This content is “very emotionally activating,” which is “antithetical to the state we want to be in as we approach sleep.”
Expert Recommendations
To counteract phone attachment, Troxel recommends setting a simple boundary: “I recommend that you try to keep your phone more than arms’ distance away from you while in bed. And set a rule for yourself. If you’re going to use the phone, don’t do it in bed. In fact, make your feet be on the floor if you’re going to use that phone.”
This approach creates what Troxel calls “behavioral friction.” As a clinical psychologist who works with people to break unhelpful habits, she explains that this friction makes the automatic behavior of grabbing and scrolling through phones while in bed more difficult. When automatic behavior becomes harder to perform, it is less likely to occur.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.foxnews.com/health/most-americans-doing-one-nightly-activity-thats-wrecking-sleep-expert-says