If you are one from the people who need the TV to be on in order to help them fall asleep and this has become a habit for you then you have a serious problem. Scientists explain why this is not a good idea and how it affects your health.
According to Diana Pilkington, sleeping with the TV on may lead to depression. She recalls Dr. Guy Meadows who explains why the light from the TV or computer screen is not good for the health.
“The human body is meant to sleep in the dark. When the sun rises and the light shows up, the light receptors in the retina tell us that it is time to wake up with preventing the releasing of melatonin – a hormone that makes us sleepy”, says Dr. Gay Meadows.
Therefore, when you sleep with the TV on you prevent your body to reach deep sleep because the light from the screen disturbs this system of body functions. This results in sleepiness, bad humor and anxiety during the following day.
A neurological research showed that sleeping with dimed lights compared with sleeping in total darkness long – term changes the mood and increases the chances for depression.
If you can’t kick the habit of falling asleep with the TV or computer on then you should compromise. Chose the sleep mode option on your TV and program to set the time when your TV will go off and avoid the TV being on all night. When it comes to computers also there is a way (or several ways) how to make the screen go off after finishing the thing you are watching.