What are the benefits of limiting phone use to less than two hours a day?

A recent study found that using a phone for two hours a day may reduce the risk of developing mental health problems.

Researchers from Hanyang University in Korea found that people aged 13 to 18 who used their phones for less than two hours a day were less likely to suffer from depression, sleep problems, stress, suicidal thoughts, and alcoholism, compared to their peers who did not use the phone.

However, using the phone for more than four hours was associated with a 22% risk of developing these problems.

While most research has shown that excessive screen time can be harmful to our well-being, the researchers say their findings show that short periods of phone use can be "beneficial."

The researchers looked at data from 2017 and 2020 from 50,000 teenagers, from an online survey of Korean youth behavior, which contains 103 questions about physical and mental health.

A survey on smartphone use was also conducted in 2017 and again in 2020.

The researchers looked at the relationship between phone use and health outcomes, taking into account other factors, such as: age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Compared to the health outcomes of people who did not use the phone, teens who used their phones for less than two hours a day were 30% less likely to be stressed and 27% less likely to have poor sleep.

They were also 38% less likely to suffer from depression, 43% less likely to commit suicide, and 47% less likely to abuse alcohol.

The researchers stressed that bias can creep into surveys, as previous studies have shown that teens with difficulties in emotional regulation may be more susceptible to excessive smartphone use.

The team found that phone use had a negative impact on health outcomes when it lasted four to six hours or more, versus non-users.

Increased use of social media is also linked to unhappiness, as people compare themselves and their lives to the lives of others online. They also had a greater chance of stress, depression, poor sleep and suicide.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

This is what happens to your body after spending just one night without sleep

Many people experience the problem of insomnia or not getting a good night's sleep, which makes them struggle the next day to overcome the difficulties caused by sleep deprivation.

Given the cascade of damage that flows within the brain and body while staying awake all night, a team of experts has detailed the interesting biological processes that occur when we can't sleep, whether it's late at night, staying awake for 24 hours or several days without sleep. To close our eyes.

According to experts who spoke to the Daily Mail, just one night without sleep starts a “ripple effect” of chaos (one malfunction triggers another malfunction, followed by another) in our bodies, and it becomes more dangerous as the hours pass.

After 18 hours of wakefulness (the equivalent of waking up at 8 a.m. and going to bed at 2 a.m. the next day), blood pressure begins to rise and the heart has to work harder to do its job.

For those with underlying heart disease, this may increase the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke.

In addition, the 18-hour mark sees a decline in testosterone, energy levels and immune defenses, as natural "fighter" cells that fight off bacteria and viruses become less effective.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that staying awake for 24 hours is like drinking four glasses of wine or beer, which may be why you feel the hangover-like effects of drinking alcohol, even if you avoid doing so.

Once you've been awake for this long, your reaction times will decrease, and you'll experience slurred speech and slowed thinking, as well as irritability, increased tension, poor concentration, and food cravings.

Studies showed that sleep-deprived teens ate an additional 210 calories the next day for every hour of sleep lost, and tired people were more likely to spend money on junk food.

By 36 hours without sleep, you may begin to experience short periods of involuntary sleep of up to 30 seconds known as microsleep. This is your body's way of trying to give your brain the vital time it needs to restore itself.

Other symptoms include poor performance, memory, and decision-making, high heart rate and blood pressure, and slow metabolism.

These partial sleep episodes will worsen as you reach two days awake, and you will also notice increased tension, depersonalization, anxiety, and irritability.

Within 48 hours, you can begin to hallucinate, due to increasingly severe weakness in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.

These mental effects continue to escalate until 96 hours of sleep deprivation, at which point the risk of psychosis increases.

Although many of these symptoms can be resolved by sleep, in rare cases chronic and prolonged insomnia can be fatal.

If you have difficulty sleeping on a regular basis, it is important to visit your GP.