TV before bed bad for sleep?

[pensiv]

Just picked up this news item (http://health.discovery.com/newsbreak/focus/saboteurs.html) from Boing Boing which suggests that watching television before bed can disturb sleep and that the flashing lights can reset circadian rhythms.

Piratecat probably knows all of this already.

 

[Piratecat]

Yup, old (but interesting!) news. The white noise of a non-station can help you sleep, but that is more than cancelled out by the ambient light.

 

[Impeesa]

What about browsing the message boards for an hour or two before bed?

--Impeesa--

 

[Hypersmurf]

Yup, old (but interesting!) news. The white noise of a non-station can help you sleep, but that is more than cancelled out by the ambient light.

So turning the brightness right down is an option...?

-Hyp.

 

[pensiv]

I assume it is the audio white noise, not the video white noise, in which case tuning a radio off-station would suffice.

 

[thatdarncat]

we have a humidifier right next to the bed. No more dry air, and we can't hear the roommate playing video games all night downstairs.

 

[JoeBlank]

I know I sleep better when I get into a groove of reading before bed, rather than watching t.v. But the article linked above includes this bit:

"Dr. Herman recommends limiting TV viewing and video game playing within 30 minutes or so of bedtime. You may also choose to limit book reading time as well."

Okay, why? Is anything mentally stimulating going to be bad for sleep? What, other than meditation, is acceptable just before bed?

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, I like to always sleep a little before I go to sleep. It helps me sleep.

I've got a friend who I'm sure has some kind of sleep disorder. She gets, on average, only about 3 hours of sleep a night. I mean, it's great that when I happen to be up late I can always talk to her online, but I wonder if I should encourage her to get off her computer earlier and try to sleep, or if she's just got some deeper problem that simple removal from stimuli won't fix.

On the other hand, she's still fairly active during the day. Mostly she just complains about feeling an ache in her head a lot, and general weariness, but she gets along well enough, with no Lovecraftian sleep-deprivation-driven madness. And she's cute.

 

[Piratecat]

"You may also choose to limit book reading time as well."

Okay, why? Is anything mentally stimulating going to be bad for sleep? What, other than meditation, is acceptable just before bed?

It isn't the reading, it's the light. According to work by Czeisler, close exposure to even normal levels of light before bedtime pushes back your circadian clock. The closer you are to the light the more lux hits your eyes, and the greater the effect will be. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're having trouble falling asleep, in which case I'd experiment with reading with the lamp farther away from you.

As for your second question, I was amused to read Consumer Report's article on sleep a few years back, where people overwhelmingly voted for sex as their favorite sedative.

 

[RangerWickett]

As for your second question, I was amused to read Consumer Report's article on sleep a few years back, where people overwhelmingly voted for sex as their favorite sedative.

Is that prescription, or over the counter?