Unplug your brain

Do you find it hard to sleep or become more irritable after watching TV?  This is a natural reaction to screen time, which in excess can have negative effects on your body and mind. But How?

Your eyes are stimulated by watching screens.  Things like Refresh rates, constant motion and blue light are fed through your nervous system into your brain.
With all this stimulation your brain becomes stressed and believes there is an emergency.  It begins producing panic reducing hormones like Cortisol.
Your body is prepared for action but nothing happens and these hormones are left floating in your body.
Hormones like Cortisol reduce Melatonin, the sleep hormone, thus reducing REM sleep
REM Sleep helps your brain to clear clutter every night improving, reasoning skills, emotional regulation, and other executive functions
Without REM sleep you will need more stimulation to function and may develop dependencies.
This sort of imbalance is linked to many health issues including weight gain, mood swings and depression.

It is important to remember that large parts of brain don’t realize that what you see on a screen isn’t real. Therefore sending your body into a fight or flight mode of hyper arousal

Here are a few everyday things you can do to unplug your brain.  

• Avoid multitasking with your screens.  Switching your attention from your phone to the TV puts undue stress on your mind.
• Designate screen-free times and spaces.  Take time out for board games and other real-life activities.  Non-screen activity gives your brain time to reset to normal stress levels
• Create screen-free bedtime rituals and environments.  Organized and screen free settings signals your brain to begin relaxing.  

By: Dwight Kilgore 

Illustrated by: Leslie Chin