ADHD and Sleep

Tech and ADHD part 1

This year, more than ever, I am seeing technology causing some negative effects on the clients I work with. I see kids and young adults that are missing work at school, or missing classes in college, yet spend hours a day on TikTok or gaming till late at night. I guess it’s one of the many rippling effects of a pandemic, where we were all spending too much time indoors and away from people. So many people filled that time with a variety of unhealthy habits, me included. One thing about ADHD brains: They aren’t known for moderation. I started thinking today how another piece to this is a true denial as to how much time is really spent on unhealthy activities. We tend to be “now and not now” people, and our judgement of time isn’t our strong point. So how do we create a healthier space for things we love, and when do we need to cut them out completely? And how is our increasing use of screens really impacting our lives and our sleep?

I always tell people that I’m a pretty healthy person. I try to get those steps in, I don’t eat fast food, I’m not a soda drinker, and I cook most of our meals. I’m sitting pretty high up here on this horse… I am healthy!? I was encouraged recently to start taking a look at reality and I will share that it was a slug to the gut. Partly due to the pandemic, and partly due to my lack of impulse control over things I love, I became addicted to sugar. No joke. I kept lying to myself and justifying a handful of chocolate covered coconut almonds, or cookies throughout the day. I didn’t seem to think that the mini candies I ate throughout the day actually counted. Every day I was eating more and more sugar and not even realizing what it was doing to me and my health. I realized that because I love it so much, I was willing to make excuses and truly deceive myself so I could just keep doing what I wanted.? I went cold turkey and gave up all refined sugar a week ago and I was shocked at how much I had been having. Then I realized that this is how people feel about screen time. They love it so they start defending it. It helps me socialize, it helps me sleep, I need it.? Pretty soon people aren’t socializing in person, and they don’t sleep well. They insist it is something else. They probably don’t really KNOW how much of their life is spent on screens and what it is doing to them.

People that have ADHD are more affected by screens than neuro-typical people.? About 50% of people that have ADHD also have problems with sleep. Why? Lots of reasons. First of all our brains just don’t want to turn off. I honestly think ADHD brains have severe FOMO… they just don’t want to miss out. Secondly, when is a better time to ruminate about every little thing we did during the day, than after 10pm?? Lying alone with our active brain leads to us beating ourselves up for every little thing we did during the day…. Or last year. Whatever.? So we already have a messed up sleep cycle. We already produce more cortisol hormone that is for wake up time when we are trying to sleep. Stress produces cortisol so those stressful thoughts wake up our brain. Now let’s add in technology…. What could possibly go wrong?

Our bodies all run on a biological clock based on 24 hours. For most of us, light helps regulate this clock and the blue light interferes with that rhythm by delaying the production of Melatonin, which is the hormone that makes us sleepy.? Blue light also reduces REM sleep. Why does that matter? Because REM sleep impacts memory, mood, and chronic sleepiness. How many people do I work with that complain that they always feel sluggish and tired? Quite a few. We all know we should turn off screens about an hour before bed, but what about the screen time all day? Guess what? That ALSO affects our sleep, especially in teens. Using screens for long periods during the day leads to shorter sleep duration, harder time falling to sleep, and sleep deficiency. So, yea. It is kind of a big deal. But our ADHD lies to us saying we need it, we deserve it, it is fine. Long story short: It isn’t fine.

I get it. We often think if something is fun and good than MORE of that something is better! I had to jump off my high horse and come to terms with reality. I always say that people with ADHD almost NEVER choose boring activities over something sparkly. More and more I am seeing them choose technology over the real world and it scares me. I am hearing of kids becoming more agitated and sometimes violent, when they have to turn screens off. Here is the hard part. Most kids, teens, and even college kids have convinced themselves that screen time is fine, and I see many parents that aren’t looking at the reality of screen time with their kids either. Pay attention to screen time with the whole FAMILY. See what happens when you look at reality. I can tell you that my own look at reality was eye opening and that is what it took for me to make changes.