EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Late-night scrolling in bed may feel harmless, but it can disrupt sleep and affect how you feel the next day, according to Dr. Luis Ortiz who spoke to ARC El Paso on the Medical Myth Busters segment.
Ortiz said many people spend time at night “scrolling through Instagram, watching all the stories” and may think it’s a healthy habit “but it is not,” because it can interfere with sleep.
He explained that as the body prepares for bed, metabolism begins to slow down and sleep becomes “extremely important because it restores our energy for the next day.”
Using a phone or tablet at bedtime can throw off that process, Ortiz said, because the blue light emitted from screens “tricks your brain into thinking that it is still daylight.”
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He said that can affect hormones, including melatonin, which he described as “a hormones that preps our brain and tells it that it is time to go to bed.”
Ortiz said melatonin levels “go lower on those people who watch their phones,” which can lead to poor-quality sleep.
The next day, he said, people may feel tired and have poor concentration, and “it’s gonna affect every aspect of your mental health.”
As for when to put the phone away, Ortiz said studies suggest turning off screens between one hour and one hour and a half before going to bed. While he said there isn’t a “clear cut timing,” he emphasized building better habits, including trying to stop using phones about an hour and a half before bedtime and picking up a book instead.
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