Monday, June 16, 2008
Dr. Gaby Badre, of Sahlgren’s Academy in Gothenberg, Sweden presented to the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) that there is a relationship between excessive cell phone use and sleeping problems, such as disrupted sleep, restlessness, stress and fatigue, among youth 14 to 20 years of age.
The study consisted of two groups; those who made less than 5 calls and/or text messages per day (control group) and those who made more than 15 calls and/or text messages per day (experimental group).
The results showed that youth in the experimental group had "increased restlessness with more careless lifestyles, more consumption of stimulating beverages, difficulty in falling asleep and disrupted sleep, more susceptibility to stress and fatigue". Furthermore, there seems to be a connection between excessive cell phone use and a tendency toward unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking among youth.
The study suggests that youth are delaying their biological clocks in order to remain in constant connection with the world. The impact on mental health and cognition could be detrimental if youth continue to disrupt their sleep patterns at a period in life where sleep is so critical. It makes me wonder if this trend will hinder the potential of today's youth.
© www.mentalhealthblog.com
Cell Phone, Cognitive Impairment, Control Group, Experimental Group, Mental Health, Sleep Stages, Stress
7 comments
7 comments:
Hm, I'd question this myself. There isn't enough there to show that, for example, it's not something that happens in the other order - people who are more susceptible to addictive behaviour such as smoking and drinking have a tendency to text / use the phone more.
I often send upwards of 40 text messages a day and spend probably over an hour on the mobile phone each day (largely for work). At that rate I should be pretty much catatonic surely?
To me this looks like the "researchers" using mobile phones as the current scapegoat. If it wasn't mobiles it would be the Internet, video games, or the party culture. Funny how no one ever claimed that staying up late to finish a book leads to mental health issues tho...
(P.S. this is not a hostile comment, just throwing in my 5c worth :) )
~Shiv
Haha, yes, that's very true. Although, if there was an epidemic of kids staying up late to read books then maybe we'd see some relevant research. The fact that kids are missing out on sleep could be linked to just about anything these days, but cell phone use seems to be getting out of control. Is it really necessary to stay connected at 12 years old? I don't think so.
I think you're right that some people are more susceptible to addictive behaviours and they would be those who are probably lacking in sleep due to whatever their addictions may be, whether it's texting or reading. Whatever it is that keeps kids up at night can't be good for their mental health.
I'm not agreeing with your sentence, ‘careless lifestyle’. It is not a careless lifestyle it is a modern lifestyle. It’s true that some problems cause because of cell phones but we also consider the benefits...
Nice topic...
Thanks,
-Nadal-
Drug Alcohol Rehab
Drug Alcohol Rehab
It's not my sentence. It's from the article. Also, it refers to consumption of stimulating beverages, drug and alcohol use etc only by association to cell phone use.
Thanks for the visit.
Really good article. I have been following your blog for last 3 months. You have good knowledge
on Mobile(cell phone) Industry and happenings. Please continue the good work. Thank you.
Thanks, Sathya! I appreciate that you've stopped by and I'm glad you enjoy my blog :)
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