Tom had a hard day at work. After supper he spent a few hours watching TV before bed. Two hours later Tom heard the sound of frogs bellowing in the night; the sound got louder and louder, filling the room. A light bounced off the ceiling while Tom dreamt giant amphibians leaped across his bed in the moonlight.
When Tom awakened, he realized the frog bellowing was his cellphone. His sister in North Carolina had forgotten the differing time zones again. Tom was awake, so he checked the message to stop the beeping and flashing. He returned the cellphone to the bedside table.
Hours later Tom was still trying to sleep. It would be another night of sleeplessness, followed by another hard day at work. The message said, “Tom, don’t forget it’s Mom’s birthday next Tuesday.”
According to huffingtonpost.com, “Nearly three-fourths of all young people fall asleep each night with their phones within reach. That number tapers off at middle age and decreases in the 65+ category, where people are equally likely to sleep with their phone in another room. Using a phone before bed has been shown to interfere with the length and quality of sleep.”
More than a decade ago, when people were still using beepers, my aging mother decided I should sleep with one so she could reach me in the night. I, of course, had a telephone hanging on the wall, but that was not satisfactory. She knew I would let the answering machine in another room catch the call whereas the beeper would be sure to wake me.
For a short while I complied with her wishes, until I realized that on some level I was always listening for the beeper, and this was causing me great anxiety and sleeplessness. On a few occasions the beeper went off in the middle of the night. With much trepidation I made the call.
“Are you OK?”
“Yes,” she said. “I was asleep. Why are you calling?”
On every occasion it had been a wrong number. After encouragement from my caretakers support group, I suspended sleeping with a beeper.
Sleeping with a beeper sounds ludicrous now, but it’s no different than sleeping with a cellphone, even if you tell yourself you’re using it as an alarm clock or in case of an emergency.
The Huffington Post continues, “Laboratory exposure to 884MHz wireless signals adversely effects components of sleep crucial to maintaining good health.”
Heavy cellphone use has been linked to sleeping problems (interrupting vital sleep patterns), stress, headaches, mood changes, confusion and depression. Ignoring text/voice messages has contributed to feelings of guilt. Waiting for returned phone calls and/or texts can cause further anxiety.
There are numerous suggestions to prepare for a good night’s sleep. Remember when the best sleep came with some warm milk, a soft lullaby and a bedtime story? Not much has changed about that.
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