Did you know that of all the social media, TikTok affects sleep most drastically?
It is notoriously hard to figure out the relation between TikTok and sleep, but watching TikTok right before bed affects the solid night’s kip more than one thinks.
Either scrolling through the short videos or laughing over the funny trends, TikTok has become an integral part of our life.
Scratching your head thinking about how this all impacts our sleep? Right?
Then, continue reading till the end and get all your queries answered!
Does Watching TikTok Affect Sleep?
Unfortunately YES!
Watching TikTok affects sleep in all ways possible. It is the worst culprit of peaceful Zzzs.
According to Sleep Junkie, a sleep science and review platform, watching TikTok affects the sleep cycle the most, disturbing the quality and routine. Moreover, delayed bedtime and compromised sleep can lead to stress, anxiety, and even insomnia.
Therefore, it is better to track your sleep using ShutEye, one of the best free sleep trackers, to get a detailed sleep quality report.
Moving back to Tiktok, you will be flabbergasted to learn that watching TikTok just before bed leaves you sleep-starved for the next 67 minutes.
How Does Watching TikTok before Bed Affects Sleep Quality?
There is no second thought that TikTok affects sleep. But HOW?
From poor sleep full of wakeful nights to adrenal thrush, various body changes occur while watching TikTok videos at night.
Here are a few ways in which watching TikTok affects sleep:
1. Decreased Rapid Eye Movement REM
The first impact of watching TikTok videos late at night is decreased rapid eye movement REM to merely 14. It means REM decreases to half of the recommended healthy limit. The normal REM of a person with no electronic engagement before sleep is between 20 to 25 percent.
REM is the rapid eye movement phase of the mind while sleeping. It stimulates the memory and learning areas of your brain like the pons, cerebrum, and cerebellum.
But a decreased REM leads to stress and depression and interferes with normal memory formation and storage.
The REM of some social media apps are:
- TikTok-14%
- Instagram-15.5%
- Snapchat-16%
- Facebook-19.5%
- Hormones Rush
Another problem is that TikTok provides instant gratification to its users. According to Sanam Hafeez, a neurophysiologist, TikTok is designed to keep you awake no matter how sleepy and tired you are. Instant happiness leads to the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline hormones, along with the happy hormone; DOPAMINE.
Dopamine and adrenaline provide a hit of energy and a rush of happiness to the body, inspiring you to keep scrolling. As a result, you have trouble sleeping.
2. Blue Light Exposure and Cognitive Arousal
Similarly, watching TikTok or, to be more general, using a mobile at night affects the circadian cycle. Glaring at mobile phones emits light of blue wavelength that helps to keep one focused, attentive, and productive.
But at night, this isn’t as simple.
At night, as the natural light intensity decreases, the brain detects it using the circadian rhythm and starts to release melatonin, a hormone that prepares our body to wind down and become ready for sleep.
But the blue light from mobile phones confuses the brain and signals to immediately suppress or stop melatonin production.
This all fuzz leads to cognitive arousal, a state deprived of peaceful sleep.
3. Addiction and FOMO
Last but not least, using TikTok and watching videos at night turns out to be highly addictive. You develop a fear of missing out. As a result, you start to look after videos and notifications, and keep scrolling throughout the night, leading to less sleep, decreased focus, and increased depression.
How Long Do People Stay Awake to Spend Time on TIKTOK?
You will surely be surprised to learn that 12.99% of users use TikTok to watch random videos before bed.
And another striking fact is that more than 52% of the users continue using it for more than 30 to 40 minutes, which ultimately disturbs the sleep cycle leading to insomnia and other sleep issues. Moreover, your function during the day is affected by sleepless nights.
Similarly, a survey was done, and 67% of the respondents agreed that using TikTok has affected their sleep cycle and quality.
How Does Watching TikTok before Bed Affects Your Dreams?
Not only watching TikTok affects sleep, but the dreams too. And here is HOW?
- Messing With Sleep Pattern
Using TikTok at night messes with the sleep hormones, and instead of melatonin, dopamine and a small amount of oxytocin are released.
Once you sleep, the dopamine loop leads you to disturbed Zzzs. Similarly, you dream something really vivid and messed up.
- Dreaming about TikTok Content
If you keep on watching TikTok videos before sleep, it is no wonder that the content makes its way into your brain and then into a dream. As a result, you continue to see TikTok videos and content in your dreams too.
How Do Sleepless Nights Because of TikTok Affect Your Body?
Using TikTok right before bed deprives you of healthy, beauty sleep. As a result, it leaves drastic effects on the whole body. A few are:
- Lead to persistent sleep-deprived conditions like Insomnia
- Increase the risk of stress, anxiety, and depression
- Fatigue and tiredness throughout the day
- More exposure to obesity
Some Positive Initiatives to Take!
Although TikTok is a source of instant happiness for multiple users, using it specifically before bed turns out to be harmful. So, here are a few initiatives to take and regain your sleep quality:
- Wind down the use of TikTok at least 2 hours before bed
- Try to relax the body in the screen-free time by either ready a book, taking a bath, or exercising a bit
- Pair up with blue light glasses
Conclusion- The Final Verdict!
TikTok has undoubtedly ended up as a godsend gift on the face of the earth, providing happiness and satisfaction to multiple users.
But using it before bed disturbs the sleep cycle, leading to harmful affected on human health.
Thereafter, it is better not to use TikTok or any other social media at least two hours before bed.
And if this doesn’t help, it’s better to analyze for sleep using ShutEye and consult a doctor!