While staying up late for a rare occasion may have little cause for alarm, doing it too often, as has been indicated in prior research, does have some serious health issues. Binging is often associated with a rise in anxiety, depression and fatigue. As we discussed in a previous blog, time in front of a screen can lead to negative effects on sleep, particularly among toddlers as screen time led to a delay or loss of sleep time in correlation to the time spent in front of a screen.

In a survey of four hundred twenty-three adults (aged 18-25), sleep quality, fatigue, and insomnia were assessed. Those who identified themselves as binge watchers (80.6%), had increased fatigue and an increase in the symptoms of insomnia. Those who watched television without binge viewing (binge watching a few times a week within a month period), had no increase in fatigue or symptoms of insomnia.

The good news? While binge watching, particularly on a frequent basis, poses a threat to getting a good night’s sleep, normal television activities, or less frequent binge watching poses far fewer problems.

When nothing else works, “Quit Counting Sheep…Sleep with a Wolf!”

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Sources:

Exelmans, Liese and Bulck, Jan Van den. “Binge Viwing, Sleep, and the Role of Pre-Sleep Arousal.” Scientific Investigations: Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine: Official Publications of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, vol. 13, no. 8, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6704. Accessed 30 August 2017.