Why your brain loves late-night scrolling?

Manasi Zalte

It’s 12.45 am. Your friend sent you a reel. You open your phone and watch it. You tell yourself, “Just one more reel.” Next thing you know, the sun is out! The fun part? You know you’ll regret scrolling through reels all night. Yet you can’t control the urge to do so.

This actually isn’t completely your fault. Once you pick up the phone and open one reel, your brain releases this chemical that makes you feel happy and excited. It’s called ‘dopamine.’ And who doesn’t want to feel happy or excited? Every new reel keeps giving us this feeling, so we keep scrolling until it’s too late to realise.

You also must’ve heard multiple times from adults about the ‘blue light’ from the screen and how it is harmful for your sleep. And it does feel annoying when told again and again, right?

But guess what? The people who told you about this were right. This blue light actually does delay the production of the sleep hormone called ‘melatonin.’ The blue screen tricks your brain into thinking that it’s still daytime. So, no melatonin means no sleep or waking up again and again, even if you do fall asleep.

Less sleep or no sleep will eventually give you low memory, low attention, and leave you feeling irritated and tired throughout the day. We think our body is resting at night. But so is our brain. This habit keeps our brain awake.

But how do we stop scrolling until its late? Firstly, use the ‘night mode’ or ‘blue light filter’ on your phone at night. Then, try putting your phone away (far from your bed) at least 30 minutes before your bedtime. The first few days are going to be little tough, making you feel awake even when you try to sleep. What you can do here is, replacing your phone time by finding a nighttime routine, like reading, writing, or listening to music. Nothing that makes your brain feel excited.

Tonight, give your body and your brain some rest and see how productive your tomorrow is. Remember, next time you’re tempted to keep scrolling, your tomorrow self is already begging you to put the phone down.

(The writer is psychology student).