Watching too much series can affect the quality of your sleep

Dmyrto_Z/Epictura

Published the 19.08.2017 at 14h11

A A

Keywords :

disorders of the sommeiltélévisioninsomnie

Come on, one more for the road ! All lovers of tv series who respects himself knows how much this type of entertainment can quickly become addictive. Especially since the advent of website like Netflix, which delivers all the episodes of a new season of a treaty. And what could be more enjoyable after a hard day of work than lounging on the sofa by wrapping the episodes ? But this habit could be detrimental to the quality of your sleep, warn scientists in a new study published in The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

“Binge-watchers”

To reach these conclusions, researchers surveyed 420 young adults aged between 18 and 25 years and were asked about the frequency with which they watch the series, but also on the quality of their sleep.

If 80% of them identified themselves as “binge-watchers”, in other words, as large consumers of series, 20% said watching several episodes in a row of the same series at least several times a week on their television screen or computer. According to the researchers, the vast majority (98%) of these “binge-watchers” would be more prone to insomnia, and more likely to maintain a poor sleep quality, compared to those who did not watch (or very little) series.

The plot of a (good) series sleep

“We found that most of these young adults watching the series, the more their level of arousal increases, which in term affects the quality of sleep and promotes insomnia and fatigue,” says Liese Exelmans, the lead author of the study. “The good shows often have a narrative structure interesting and the one who looks is completely immersed in the story. He wants to discover the next. This excitation, if it takes place in the evening shortly before bedtime, slowing down the process during which the brain prepares for sleep, which will affect the sleep”, for its part, considers Jan Van den Bulck, co-author of the study and a professor at the university of Michigan (United States). Who would have thought that even the series should be eaten in moderation ?