Are you getting enough sleep? There could be many factors that contributes to sleep troubles. One major influence on sleep can be the use of your smartphone, ipad, kindle etc. at night. The light from the devices triggers a response to your brain saying it is not time to sleep. Dr. Daniel Siegal’s  explanation on how smartphones impact your brain, body, and sleep habits provides a clinical perspective.

Dr. Siegal stated that adults need 7- 9hrs of sleep and when you do not get enough sleep, you can experience the following:

• Decreased attention,
• Impaired memory,
• Challenged thinking,
• Decreased insulin function which slows down your metabolism (ie. weight gain), and
• Delayed secretion of natural melatonin due to the screen lights

Dr. Siegal suggested giving yourself at least an hour before bedtime to unwind from all devices.

(Photo taken from Cliparts.co)