People Would Rather Text, Than Get a Good Nights Sleep [INFOGRAPHIC]

 

 

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People Would Rather Text, Than Get a Good Nights Sleep [INFOGRAPHIC]

via Chip Chick by Chip Chick Staff on 10/10/12

Everyone knows it, but we all seem to fail to prioritize accordingly – sleep is important. Very important. Lack of sleep can lead to increased risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. As a matter of fact, it can probably increase the risk of more ailments than not. Lack of sleep hurts mental health and physical health alike, and chances are that if you think you've trained your body to function on less than seven to nine hours of sleep a night, you've probably just forgotten how being well-rested actually feels. When you don't get enough sleep, your job performance and social skills suffer. After air, food, and water, it might be the most important thing in your daily life.

So, why do we not get enough of it? Lots of reasons, but it looks like one reason might be all that technology we've been glued to recently. The infographic below provides plenty of illuminating stats about how we're illuminating our faces with a heavy dose of bright-screen technology a little too close to bedtime. The light from those screens heavily stimulates the brain, making it harder to fall asleep, and then actually get a restful night's sleep once you have fallen asleep.

Huge numbers of those surveyed either play video games, watch television, or use the computer within an hour of going to bed, which doesn't bode well for their sleep patterns. Use increases as age trends lower, with the 19-29 and 13-18 age group about equal in amount of tech used before bedtime, although television watching tends to be higher among older age groups (possibly because those younger age groups are watching television shows on their computers more often).

Another alarming stat is that 20 percent of those aged 19 to 29 and 18 percent of those aged 13 to 18 are woken up by a text message at night, which might not seem like a big deal, but those kinds of interruptions can wreck sleep cycles and prevent you from getting a good night's sleep.

So, what's to be done? Simple – shut it all down a good hour or so before heading to bed. Avoid activities that will overstimulate the body or the brain – eating, exercising, taking hot showers, and using tech with bright screens. Instead, you can try reading a book (no, not on a tablet – but if you have an eReader that uses eInk, that's not a bad substitute) or meditating. It might just be worth it – lack of sleep has become so common now, it can be almost stunning how much of an impact getting consistent, restful sleep can have on your health and well-being.

Via: TakePart.com

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People Would Rather Text, Than Get a Good Nights Sleep [INFOGRAPHIC] was first posted on October 11, 2012 at 2:20 am.

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© 2012 Chip Chick
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The post People Would Rather Text, Than Get a Good Nights Sleep [INFOGRAPHIC] appeared first on Chip Chick.

 

 

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