Why falling asleep in front of the TV is not a good idea (especially if you have chronic insomnia)

Many people with chronic insomnia tell me that they fall asleep in front of the TV (usually because it helps them relax and distracts their minds from worrying about sleep).

There are a couple of problems with this:

1. If you fall asleep with the TV playing throughout the night, the quality of your sleep will suffer.

2. If you watch TV in bed or fall asleep on the couch while watching TV, you are missing the opportunity to pair your bed with sleep.

You do not need to give up watching TV at night. Instead, just avoid watching TV in bed, and, if you regularly find yourself falling asleep in front of the TV, set a timer or an alarm to act as a cue for you to switch off the TV and return to bed.

You can also find me here:

All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice or medical treatment and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or other licensed healthcare provider. All content is provided as is, and without warranties.

#insomnia
#sleep

[InsomniaCoach]

All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[sleeponcue]

Thanks Martin. Great insight on the TV and sleep. As we all know, TV is not "TV" anymore. It's not a little black and white thing in the corner that you have to get up and walk over to adjust volume, change channel or fiddle-with to get a good picture. TV is now virtually a giant plasma computer screen with a hundred channels, surround sound, and remote control. And often one in the bedroom. Not a good thing!

[exsimdr]

Thank you for your advice on how to get better sleep 😴 without the TV set up and on.... my situation is I'm in recovery for sepsis and I'm temporarily in a rest home 🏠 for mainly elderly people and the man that is in the next room plays his TV set up and I am not able to get to sleep 😴 until about four in the morning 🌄 I have tried to encourage to not have it on so late at night 🌉 and I have not had any success at all and I am very tired 😩

[depuyjd]

I am searching videos about this very subject for a female friend of mine who is in her seventies. your video has enlightened to me however that this may be a learned strategy over the last few months possibly maybe even a year or two since I visited last it wasn't like this. Thank you for your video I hope that when she watches it that she will watch it. 👍👍

[fatihaachaibi]

i have been doing this for 5 months then i stooped after this vid icame back 1 year to just thnak yoou bro your really helpfrul and this vid changed my life and i grew better thx to you

[johnmurray]

So called "experts" in the treatment of insomnia are sending mixed messages about the "good" and "evil" of using television as a means of getting to sleep. Alas most Chinese and Korean mega-factories that mass-produce smart TVs do not provide those features that would assist consumers who suffer from insomnia. The audio output needs a dynamic-range-limiting option on the remote, that can be selected for late night viewing. In this mode, the viewer would still be able to hear whispered intimate conversations with the volume down low and thus not be deafened by sudden gunfight scenes, musical pyrotechnics, or loud explosions. (BTW Condo dwellers who have sub-woofers in their sound system would have happier neighbors if they used this option during the wee hours). Another useful option would be "SNOOZE MODE" whereby the TV will automatically turn itself off unless the viewer acknowledges a screen prompt by pressing a "STILL AWAKE" button on the remote control. Experts keep giving conflicting advice. Some "experts" say: 'don't toss and turn - get up - go to another room - read a book'. Meanwhile other "experts" say: 'artificial lighting is bad - whatever you do, don't turn on any lights!'. So, what's a poor insomniac supposed to do? Learn to read Braille?? If drowsing in front of a soap opera rerun allows an insomniac to get at least a few hours of sleep, it's counter-productive to tell him he's using the wrong approach. Whatever works!

[skut]

Reasons why you shouldn't have the tv on while you sleep, electric bill 🙃

But no, seriously, I fully agree that tv while sleeping effects the quality of your sleep and your thought process. Sleep is the best time to reset and is one of the most important pieces of our lives that we should never take for granted 👍🏿

[shreyas]

I remember a time as a kid. We used to watch TV in bed. I always wonder how the heck we used to sleep like that when we were little.

[MichelleMedranoAguilar]

Exactly what I needed to send my bf!!!!

[cloclo]

I am self diagnosed I can’t fall asleep even to ASMR it’s really really difficult to sleep

[malena]

Hi Martin, so what if you are anxious in bed so you get out of bed to wait till you are sleepy but get even more anxious because you then realize you are up because you can fall to sleep and it’s dark and everyone is sleeping. Then what do you do? This happens to me often I focus so much that I’m up out of my bed because I can’t sleep .

[wasimh]

What about sleeping on the sofa? I notice if I wake and try sleeping in the sofa middle of the night it works...as less sleep pressure.

[XatuoCO]

Saying your advice is not medical advice in that comment is the most useful piece of information in this entire video. YT, if dislikes came back, I'd have know this was a waste of time. Now I had no idea and my time isn't just wasted..it's tainted

[davidhenriques]

My girlfriend only falls a sleep with the TV on and I really can't sleep that way
The TV does have a timer but I think it's still not good for her...

What can I do?

[psyar]

You said if tv is staying on for the 8 hours of sleep, your brain is active. True. I fall asleep while I play with my handheld emulation game console doria explorer world adventure. This game helps me turn off so I can sleep. In my sleep I turn off my handheld console.