With our ever growing life in the digital world, and more and more individuals constantly being attached to some sort of device for work or pleasure, I felt it important to discuss the effect electronic devices (iphones, tablets, laptops, etc.) have on our sleep. In my experience having spent the better portion of my professional career working with individuals ages 12-19, I have noticed the issues that have become present with many complaining of insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep. Reports are beginning to show that over the last two decades, any sort of screen-time device is causing more and more issues, specifically for children and young people (CYP). 

In a large-scale survey, approximately 77% of adolescents reported having sleep difficulties, with 60% relying heavily on caffeinated beverages in order to function throughout the day. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that children 8 years and under should be limited to 1 hour or less per day of screen time. And those between the ages of 8-12 years should be limited to 2 hours per day. Yet the current average in most America households is approximately 4-6 hours daily at minimum.

Studies are showing that using electronic devices results in cognitive, physical, and psychological consequences from insufficient sleep. Having sleep problems earlier in life predicts a greater likelihood of short sleep durations and nocturnal awakenings.  Additionally, sleep problems is related to the development of behavioral and emotional problems starting as early as age 4. 

From the aforementioned study, 50% of the parents believe that placing their young children in front of a TV prior to bed helps them wind down. However, research shows that the light from TV actually delays proper sleep cycles. In addition, if you fall asleep with the TV on throughout the night, the blue light that is emitted prevents the brain from entering into proper REM sleep (the phase of sleep in which most dreams occur, and also where healthy brain development occurs such as mental and emotional processing). Without children getting proper REM sleep, brain development can suffer and can also result in CYP having difficulty manage emotions properly. 

I believe we can all agree that sleep is critical for our health. Watching TV or use of devices before bed has the potential to impact sleep. Insomnia may also then cause other problems such as obesity and sleep apnea. Significant insomnia problems could also lead to forgetfulness, a higher risk for depression, a higher risk of heart disease, as well as undesirable incidents such as car accidents, work/home injuries, etc. 

With that being said, you can see why it is important for us to begin to recreate healthy nighttime routines where we limit attachment to electronic devices. Below you will see a list of habits that will help promote healthy sleep:

• Rule of thumb is to tuck away your devices at least 1-2 hours before bed. 
  • This will allow the brain and body to begin decompressing
• Most importantly is to establish a routine with a sleep schedule
  • This means waking and going to bed at the same time
• Restrict time in bed
  • This means not laying in bed throughout the day
  • Only using your bed for sleep, not using it as your desk, or a palace to eat, etc.
  • We want to train the brain to equate bed = sleep. 
• Limiting caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine
  • Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants which will worsen any insomnia. To help alleviate this, try to avoid caffeine after 2pm, as half of the caffeine you consumed is still in your body 6 hours later. 
  • Although alcohol is a depressant and may make you drowsy, it is also a diuretic, which encourages the body to lose extra fluid not only in urine, but through sweat too, making dehydration worse, and the need to wake up throughout the night. 
• Using essential oils or a sound machine to help relax, and block out disturbing sounds 
• Set aside time for worry time
  • Many people have racing thoughts/worry at night due to having less things to distract them. I encourage individuals to utilize time prior to bedtime to address the worries and journal these thoughts rather than suppress them or try to address the worries while trying to sleep. 
• Reading a book
• Taking a hot shower/bath
• Practice grounding tools
  • Meditation, prayer, stretches

References

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx

https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/policies-on-children-and-media/

Thought-Action Fusion (TAF) is one of the many kinds of cognitive distortions (errors in thinking or interpreting) that individuals with OCD are more likely to make than individuals without OCD. In fact, I believe it is one of the most central cognitive distortions in OCD and must be properly assessed and targeted in treatment. 

​Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are persistent unwanted thoughts, images, impulses, or doubts that are intrusive and distressing. People with OCD tend to interpret these thoughts, images, or impulses as being dangerous, intolerable, or shameful, and therefore do not want to have them. These obsessions tend to elicit feelings of anxiety, fear, disgust, uncertainty, and frustration. Obsessions are repetitive and intrusive and attempts to suppress the thoughts often only make things worse. 

Compulsions are strong urges to engage in a behavior and/or mental act to try to reduce the frequency of, or distress associated with, the obsessions and/or to try to keep the feared outcome(s) from happening. Although compulsions are technically purposeful behaviors or mental acts, many individuals with OCD feel that they do not have control over the compulsions and might not even realize that they are doing them. Attempts to stop or reduce compulsions often result in intense anxiety and distress.

Individuals with OCD misinterpret the meaning of their thoughts, images, and/or urges, engaging in an attribution of significance. Everyone experiences unwanted, bizarre, or senseless intrusive thoughts/images that don’t necessarily have anything to do with anything other than our brains are capable of creating all kinds of random things. People without OCD are able to carry on without assigning meaning to those thoughts. For example, an individual without OCD might have the thought of slapping a random stranger as they pass. This individual without OCD might think to themselves “well that was random” and move on with their day, promptly forgetting about the thought. They know they don’t want to slap anyone and trust their “knowing” that they don’t want to and trust that they won’t. In other words, they understand the thought to be random mental noise and nothing more. However, a person with OCD might have the same exact thought of slapping a stranger as they pass, and instead think to themselves “why did I just have that thought??” “does having that thought mean I might actually slap someone??” “what if having the thought means I am a danger to others??” “If I am having bad thoughts, maybe that means I might lose control and do something bad” so on and so forth. In other words, they attach meaning to the thought and interpret having the thought as being potentially threatening/dangerous. Of note, these examples both represent individuals who do not want to harm anyone. 

Thought-Action Fusion (TAF) is an example of a specific kind of attribution of significance related to the meaning we give our thoughts. Specifically, TAF reflects the belief that having a certain thought/image/urge either increases the likelihood of the feared outcome occurring (Likelihood TAF) or that having a certain thought/image/urge is morally equivalent to actually doing what the thought entails (Moral TAF).

In the example above, an individual with Likelihood TAF might believe that having the thought of slapping a stranger actually increases the chances that they will do so. So they might start engaging in compulsions such as having their hands in their pockets anytime they are around people, or seeking reassurance from trusted others that they are not going to lose control and slap someone, or completely avoiding situations that trigger the thought in the first place. 

An individual with Moral TAF might believe that having the thought of slapping a stranger is morally equivalent to actually slapping a stranger. This often results in the individual feeling significant amounts of shame and guilt. They may engage in significant compulsions related to “figuring out” whether they are bad or sinning. 

I often explain to my clients that I think of individuals with OCD as being kind of like thought hoarders. Think of our brains as having many many conveyor belts of hundreds of thousands of thoughts. Some of these thoughts are meaningful and need to be picked up off of the conveyor belt and placed into various piles such as “need to problem-solve” or “need to reflect” or “important.” But most of our thoughts are just mental noise and need to be left on the conveyor belt until it finally lands in the thought trash. People without OCD leave most of their thoughts on the conveyor belt because they understand and are comfortable with the idea that many thoughts are meaningless. However, people with OCD will see a meaningless thought that should be left on the conveyor belt and scoop it up “just in case” or because “what if” it means something or needs to be dealt with or maybe it’s important. 

In treatment, Exposure and Response Prevention will help identify cognitive distortions such as TAF, and work to alter these distortions via exposures. If you are interested in counseling for OCD, call OakHeart at 630-570-0050 or 779-201-6440 or email us at [email protected]. We have counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to help you at one of our locations in North Aurora, IL, Sycamore, IL, and/or via Telehealth Online Therapy Services serving Kane County, DeKalb County, Dupage County, and beyond.