Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D., an instructor at Harvard Medical School and sleep scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, is setting the record straight on some sleep myths. It’s Sleep Awareness Week, so the good doctor is busting these myths:
- Sleeping an extra hour is enough to help your body adjust to daylight saving time. "Our sleep is governed in part by our internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm," she explained. "That system doesn't change on a dime, so that one hour makes a big difference."
- Turning your phone brightness down can help you get better sleep. Turning down the brightness doesn't prevent your device from emitting blue light; however, there are certain settings that could make staring at a screen before bed a little less harmful. Try warmer colors to help a little bit.
- Alcohol helps you sleep better. While it acts a sedative, she says “it will ruin the quality of your sleep. It causes you to wake up multiple times and suppress some of the most important stages of sleep.”
- Falling asleep fast means, you're getting good quality sleep. Robbins notes that falling asleep is "really part of the process, and you want to set yourself up for success during relaxing things before bedtime."
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