The definition of insomnia is the inability to obtain
sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying
asleep; sleeplessness. A study
was performed by researchers at the universite Laval on sleep disorders and had
revealed that 40% of adult Canadians suffered from sleep disorders. With this
large numbers it means that there are many people who are awake trying to find
something to do until they are able to fall asleep. This leaves room for hours to spend on
twitter tweeting or Facebook, posting statuses. Those who have sleeping disorders are looking
for something to distract them while they are up and what is more convenient
and available then social media. It can be accessed at all hours of the day
making social media insomniacs’ best friends.
The problem that can arise from with this is that people who
suffer from insomnia already have trouble time sleeping so if they spend more
time with distractions they are even more likely not to sleep. The fact that
you can access social media at any time of the day causes people to lose track
of time which in return means less sleep. Social media can cause sleeping
disorders to worsen which can result in other health problems later on. A quote
from Mental
Health says that “.. it’s clear that overuse of social media that results
in things like tweeting into the wee hours of the morning can’t help with
already existing insomnia”. Social media is both allowing addictions to arise
for insomniacs’ as well as causing those who already have trouble sleeping,
more sleep deprived due to the distraction social media causes.
Whether social media be a distraction are a source to kill
time because you are unable to sleep, you are putting yourself at risk if you
already have trouble sleeping. Instead of sitting in front of a computer screen
why not find something more peaceful and relaxing so maybe you will get
eventually get some sleep.
-Kristie M
References
Hi Kristie,
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was an excellent post. Social media is a way that we all turn to when we are trying to pass and kill time, and especially those who are insomniacs. I thought it was great that you included a statement noting that social media can't help if you're already suffering from insomnia. It really doesn't help because it's a time passer and you could look at the clock and it say 1:00 am and then look at it again and it say 6:00 am. Because of this, people aren't even trying to sleep, instead they are too occupied on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.
Another thing I think relates nowadays is, most people are self diagnosing themselves as having insomnia because they can't sleep at night. Which maybe some really are, but I believe that they are just too involved with their profiles to stop and thats what keeps them awake all night. If they were to just lay down and turn off their electronics, i'm sure they would fall asleep in no time.
-Karley.S
Here is an article that talks about social media and your mental health, it has a small section where they talk about how social media affects people and their sleeping habits/patterns. Its an article worth checking out if you are interested in seeing how else social media can affect your mental health
Deletehttp://brainblogger.com/2010/07/06/social-media-and-mental-health/
-Karley.S