Having a television in the bedroom is something more and more frequent. And at the same rate that households with a television in the bedroom increase, so do sleep disorders. We do not want to demonize the television, because it is clear that it is not the only cause of insomnia, but we do want to banish this device from the bedroom. No matter how much habit you have to fall asleep watching TV, the truth is that we are facing one of the worst enemies of sleep.
TV in the bedroom
- There are many people who go to bed, turn on the TV and, even if they don’t like the programming, they stay watching TV hoping to fall asleep. And many people fall asleep with the television on, of course, but the quality of sleep is not the best for waking up rested. The background sound and the lighting of the television screen affect the quality of sleep and, therefore, our rest.
- We don’t like to get into the privacy of homes, but we know of many couples whose problems start because one partner cannot fall asleep without the television on, while the other needs silence and darkness to fall asleep. We must agree with those who need a dark and noise-free environment to sleep well, because it is one of the principles of good sleep hygiene.
- All those people who suffer from insomnia or who have trouble sleeping well, who wake up several times or who sleep only a few hours, need a bedroom free of stimuli. And television is undoubtedly a great stimulus not to sleep. The ideal bedroom to fall asleep should be a place that encourages rest and not leisure, an area to which the television belongs.
TV to not sleep
- As it happens with the rest of the technology, with the computers or with the mobile telephone, it is necessary to forget about the television an hour before going to sleep. This is something difficult to assimilate because we are used to having dinner and watching TV until it is time to go to bed. However, television, its images, its lighting and its sound are stimulating and, in the end, what we want to achieve is to get to bed as relaxed as possible.
- Children and adolescents who tend to spend too many hours in front of it should be especially careful with television. And there are many studies that warn of the increase in cases of insomnia in increasingly younger people. The cause? Excessive use of the television.
- Although watching TV is a moment of leisure without complications that can even make us forget all those worries that do not let us sleep, what we cannot do is have it as a bed partner. To sleep well, it would be much better to turn off the television and take a relaxing bath that predisposes us to rest.
