Using electronic devices isn’t just about the blue screen effect.
We may all have heard that turning off your mobile devices at least 30 minutes before bed helps you get to sleep, but is it as simple as that? I believe there is a much deeper psychological issue at play which draws us to our ‘apps’ and the addiction that encourages us to touch the phone every few minutes. This blog explains why.
Let’s think about what ‘apps’ do.
Apps on any device are never ending. Social Media apps scroll on and on and you can never seem to get to the end of a game – there is always a next level. This is the psychological issue that we are battling against.
Big tech companies need us to be addicted to our apps because that is what pays – the more people on line, the more money they can reap from advertising companies who pay by exposure. But that addiction is having a negative effect on our mental health and here’s why. Apps are designed to be ‘moreish’. They are designed to keep you hooked and the psychology behind that is to always keep you wanting more. That is why they have no endings.
What’s so important about endings?
From a psychological point of view, endings are really important. Endings give us satisfaction, even if something bad is happening, the end of that ‘happening’ makes us relieved. Think about when you are reading a book or watching a film or TV series, your expectation of the outcome starts almost as quickly as the story does. When the story is good you are excited about how it will unfold, what happens next and what will be the final outcome. Then, at the end we are satisfied. Sometimes we aren’t actually pleased with the way that the story has ended (especially if we wanted a happy ending that didn’t come), but the point is that the story ended. There is a feeling of conclusion, and most of the time an ‘ah’ in the satisfaction. Then we can move on.
The whole world is full of endings, simply put, it is the cycle of life and endings help us to feel like we are not stuck on a never ending treadmill because endings give us a sense of achievement and satisfaction.
The problem with apps is that there is no ending. There may be temporary endings to games but they just move you straight to the ‘next level’ so that you never seem to finish them. You may feel a small sense of satisfaction but nothing like you would feel if you finished the whole thing.
No (or small) endings means very low or no satisfaction and a very low sense of achievement. So what do we do – we reach out for more. We go to the next level of the game, we keep scrolling to find out what our friends on social media have been doing all day – all because we haven’t felt any sense of achievement or satisfaction because nothing has ended. There is no ‘ah’ moment.
Our brains can’t get satisfaction.
So, while you are thinking that this seems to be a load of psychological bunkham, think about this carefully. When was the last time you used your mobile device and got a real sense of achievement and satisfaction? You are more likely to feel satisfied at walking through the front door after fighting your way through rush hour traffic.
How good did it feel when you finished a book, or a jigsaw, or a run? Whatever your ending was, it felt great because endings are great, even if we are slightly sad at an ending, we still have a euphoric feeling and our brains are flooded with happy hormones.
When we use mobile devices we are engaging our brains in the desire for satisfaction – we are making it wait for the feeling of satisfaction, for it to release those happy hormones – but what we are actually doing is balancing our brains on the edge of excitement, never really allowing it to do what it really wants, and that is to make us ‘feel’ happy.
What has this got to do with sleep?
No endings creates a craving, a desire. The need to keep playing, scrolling and reading a blue screen (which is detrimental to the natural creation of the sleep hormone melatonin), prevents you from maintaining your natural sleep-wake cycle. Not only does the blue screen prevent you from becoming naturally sleepy, the desire created through the never ending apps and social media prevents your brain from knowing that something has ended, therefore keeping it in a state of alertness and expectation. If you are alert waiting for something to happen, how can your brain even contemplate sleep?
Is it making sense now?
Blue screen = poor creation and release of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
No ending = brain’s need to be alert in preparation of the ‘next’ continuous event.
What can we do?
Considering our brain’s reaction to what is going on in our body, we need to make sure that we give our brains enough time to believe we have come to an end (even if there is no actual end!). This takes much longer than an hour. I believe that we should consider putting our mobile devices down at least 2 hours before we go to bed, or at least stop scrolling or gaming then. The odd message won’t hurt if it’s quick, but a whole long conversation with someone is bad – especially when you aren’t sure who will say goodnight first!
So – if you are having trouble sleeping, put your phone down 2 hours before your normal bed time, and read a book or magazine for half an hour or so before you go to sleep. That will ensure your body has enough time to produce the right amount of melatonin to make you sleepy. If you take a late night snack consider something like pineapple, banana or oats which are high in natural melatonin. Avoid taking vitamins before you go to bed because some B vitamins can prevent the creation of melatonin. A warm milky drink may also do the trick.
Do resist the temptation of taking your mobile to bed. Buy yourself and alarm clock (we don’t get many power cuts these days!), and keep your phone downstairs so you avoid the temptation and also don’t get disturbed by a 2am notification.
Be friends with your Brain.
It is really important to be friends with your brain. Keep it healthy by keeping healthy and quality sleep is just as important as good nutrition. As I said in my blog ‘Thoughts of a confused mind’, your brain is selfish and can easily throw you under a bus if you don’t treat it with the respect it deserves!
Jayne Jones
BSc(Hons) Psych (Open), Cert.Couns.Studies