Watching TV can help you sleep by providing a soothing distraction from racing thoughts, creating a calming background noise similar to white noise, and engaging your mind in a low-stakes activity, helping you unwind from the day's stresses. Familiar, low-key shows can feel comforting, and the steady narrative keeps anxiety at bay, but be mindful that blue light and stimulating content can disrupt sleep quality long-term, so using a sleep timer and choosing calming shows is recommended.
Some people prefer to sleep while the TV is on. For one, it is relaxing. Another reason. You may sleep better with the TV on because it can drown out stressful or negative thoughts. Having the game or your favorite show creates a positive and relaxing environment. Some people sleep better with white noise, for example.
While many people affected by ADHD feel that TV or electronic device use helps them to settle down in the evening, it turns out that the light from televisions and electronic devices can interfere with the brain's sleep triggers. Turning them off an hour before bedtime helps the brain to begin the sleep process.
The main reasons you may not be able to sleep without the TV on are because you've become psychologically dependent on it, you have anxiety and you find it relaxes you enough to drift off, or the noise of the TV drowns out more disturbing sounds, like traffic.
The 3-2-1 sleep rule is a simple wind-down routine: stop eating and drinking alcohol 3 hours before bed, stop working/mentally stimulating activities 2 hours before, and turn off screens (phones, TVs) 1 hour before sleep, helping you transition to rest by reducing stimulants and preparing your mind and body. It's often part of a larger 10-3-2-1-0 rule, which also adds no caffeine 10 hours prior and no hitting snooze (0) in the morning.
Is sleeping with the TV on a trauma response? Yes, sleeping with the TV or background noise on can be a coping mechanism for individuals with trauma. This behavior often stems from hypervigilance, in which the brain remains alert even during rest.
Experts generally apply the "30-30 rule": It's insomnia if it takes you 30 minutes or more to fall asleep or if you're awake for 30 or more minutes during the night—at least three times a week. No matter how little you sleep, it isn't insomnia unless your nighttime habits drag you down during the day.
17 Productive Things To Do Instead of Watching TV That You Can Do at Home
The ADHD "30% Rule" is a guideline suggesting that executive functions (like self-regulation, planning, and emotional control) in people with ADHD develop about 30% slower than in neurotypical individuals, meaning a 10-year-old might function more like a 7-year-old in these areas, requiring adjusted expectations for maturity, task management, and behavior. It's a tool for caregivers and adults with ADHD to set realistic goals, not a strict scientific law, helping to reduce frustration by matching demands to the person's actual developmental level (executive age) rather than just their chronological age.
The ADHD "2-Minute Rule" suggests doing any task taking under two minutes immediately to build momentum, but it often backfires by derailing focus due to weak working memory, time blindness, and transition difficulties in people with ADHD. A better approach is to write down these quick tasks on a separate "catch-all" list instead of interrupting your main work, then schedule specific times to review and tackle them, or use a slightly longer timeframe like a 5-minute rule to prevent getting lost down "rabbit holes".
Neurodiversity encompasses a spectrum of neurological differences, and it makes sense that across this spectrum, sleep patterns and preferences vary widely, with some individuals preferring weighted blankets, some needing sources of weight, others needing sources of sound (or needing complete silence), some maybe ...
If you are someone who sleeps with the TV on, you're not alone. A National Sleep Foundation poll found that 60% of Americans watch TV right before bed, and according to an LG Electronics survey, 61% of Americans fall asleep with the TV on.
The five key signs of narcolepsy, often remembered by the acronym CHESS, are Cataplexy (sudden muscle weakness), Hallucinations (vivid dream-like images), Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), Sleep Paralysis (inability to move when falling asleep or waking), and Sleep Disruption (fragmented nighttime sleep). These symptoms reflect a disruption between wakefulness and REM sleep, with elements of sleep intruding into the waking state.
You really should stop watching TV at least 2 hours before bed time, spokesperson for American Academy of Sleep Medicine says.
Next, we wanted to find out how long young Japanese sleep in average during the week. According to our survey results, men sleep an average of 6 hours and 20 minutes per night, while women sleep an average of 6 hours and 26 minutes.
The koala is famous for sleeping around 20-22 hours a day, which is about 90% of the day, due to their low-energy diet of eucalyptus leaves that requires extensive digestion. Other extremely sleepy animals include the sloth (up to 20 hours) and the brown bat (around 20 hours), with some snakes like the ball python also sleeping up to 23 hours daily.
In his piece, he revealed that through his years of research, he's found that rumination is the biggest thing that causes poor sleep. He says that being worried about something at night has affected his own ability to fall asleep.
For example, a person may be asked to do the following: Identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch or feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.
Consistency is key in the Montessori approaches to sleep. Create a predictable bedtime routine that lets your little one know it's time to unwind and prepare for sleep. That routine can include soothing activities such as a warm bath, quiet play, recounting the day or reading a bedtime story.
7 Clear Signs Your Body Is Releasing Stored Trauma
Overthinking is a coping mechanism that people develop from an early stage in life, typically due to childhood trauma. Experiencing abuse, invalidation, or neglect as a child can push individuals into overthinking as a coping mechanism to have a sense of control and safety.
How Does PTSD Affect Sleep? Both nightmares and insomnia are symptoms of PTSD. Nightmares are often a replay of the traumatic event; and, if the dreams cause kicking and screaming, bed partners can be affected too. Nightmares can also make it difficult to fall back asleep.