24-year-old CD (name changed) lives far away from his family in Kathmandu. He came to Kathmandu for studies and is studying a 2-year course. But it took 4 years, the course is still not over. What happened is that CD who lives alone spends a lot of time on the screen at night. Even though he knows he should sleep, now he spends time on the screen.

Every night he regrets not sleeping or doing anything useful. When he can't go to class in the morning without getting enough sleep, he promises himself - I will sleep on time today. But the next day the same problem repeats itself. Later, to remove this habit, he went to psychiatrist Dr. approached Yuzalman Singh. 

28-year-old Abby is busy with office work all day. She reaches home tired from office in the evening. Being busy with office work all day long, she always feels that she does not have enough time for herself. I regret not being able to live every day.

That's why she stays up late at night without sleeping to give 'me time' to herself. Uses devices. She can watch the season of the series by saying the last one 'episode'. When you come home, you are tired. The whole day's work is also stressful. Not even sleep. And I like to use the phone to forget the mind," she says, "I feel good as long as I use the phone. When I can't wake up again in the morning, I regret that I used it in vain.'

psychiatrist Dr. According to Singh, nowadays many people come with problems similar to CD and AB. Singh says that this has become a common problem.

He says that there are two types of sleep related problems. One, not being able to fall asleep even if you want to because of a sleep disorder. Knowing that you need another nap and not falling asleep when you feel sleepy. That is, sleep time will gradually be pushed back. 

***

Various studies have shown that the number of people pushing bedtime is increasing alarmingly. According to a study published in 2021 in Frontiers in Psychology, especially young people deliberately sleep late. Despite the fact that studies know that it has a negative impact on health, most of the youth spend their time 'scrolling' on their mobiles late at night, using social media or watching online videos. A participant in the

study said, "Even though I know I have class tomorrow morning, I stay up until two o'clock scrolling Tik Tok and Instagram." Why do people spend so much time on screens late at night? According to various studies, there are various reasons for this. There are psychological, biological and technical reasons.

More use of digital devices, including more mobiles, has been found more responsible for this. According to experts, social media platforms are designed to activate the happiness system of the human brain i.e. 'dopamine'. Every 'like', 'comment' or even just a 'scroll' activates dopamine and makes the user feel happy. That's why users often push off bedtime to get that happiness. This process makes them addicted. 

Likewise, as noted in an article in Stanford Medicine, the 'scroll' causes a sense of novelty. Our brain produces dopamine during discovery and exploration. Which says - 'Pay attention, something new has come.' Adds 'AI Algorithm' to this. It learns what we've liked in the past and suggests new content of a similar nature. Then we start to 'scroll' continuously. We fall into one content after another," the article states.

Psychosocial consultant Aditya Dangol suggests understanding the cycle of addiction first. Once you become addicted to something, you have to rely on it for whatever you do. As soon as you get the slightest negative feeling, you tend to use the addictive substance instead of dealing with it. Even when feeling sad, angry, happy, device usage increases. It also increases anxiety,' he says, 'because the phone can be used in the same way, the usage increases.'

Similarly, according to experts, 'Fomo' i.e. 'Fear of Missing Out' is another reason for this. Did I miss somewhere? Fomo is the fear of missing something. People don't want to miss anything fun or important. This is why they obsessively 'scroll' social media.

Brian N. Chin, a professor of psychology at Trinity College in the UK, has mentioned in an article published in "Scientific American" that people with high FOMO use social media more. People with high FOMO tend to use social media more at night. Their sleep quality is poor. The expectation of new messages, posts or updates can create social pressure to stay online and increase the habit of delaying sleep', he concludes. 

Similarly, according to a study published in the "Current Psychology" journal, people with stress, anxiety or many responsibilities use "screens" to stay away from those problems even for a while at night. Spend time on social media. They are gradually delaying their bedtime to get even a little bit of relief from stress or negative emotions. But such temporary relief can disrupt deep sleep.

A study found that 'revenge bedtime procrastination' is one of the main reasons young people sleep late. It is also known as 'RBP'. 'Revenge bedtime procrastination' is when you take the time you don't have due to the responsibilities of the day, stay up late at night or enjoy solitude and delay bedtime.

In a study published in the 'Journal of Health Psychology', about 2500 young people in the Netherlands were studied about 'revenge bedtime procrastination'. According to the study, 74 percent of young people sleep late at least once a week for no apparent reason. That is, they do 'revenge bedtime procrastination'. According to psychologist Khushbu Aggarwal, staying up late and engaging in recreational activities instead of sleeping is a 'revenge' against our busy daily schedule.

This practice helps people with very busy routines to take some time off to give themselves time. However, it causes serious sleep problems,” she says. According to

experts, there is a big difference between RBP and other insomnia disorders. Some people may find it effective to work at night. There is also a difference between that person and someone who deliberately pushes sleep. According to Aggarwal, 'procrastination' is staying awake even though you know it's time to sleep. Due to which morning fatigue and sleep problems may appear. But 'insomnia' means not being able to sleep despite wanting to sleep.

According to Agarwal, lack of personal time, stressful schedules, lack of self-control and digital distractions such as phones and social media can also cause RBP.

According to various studies, 'blue light' comes from the 'screen' of phones and laptops. The same light prevents the production of the hormone 'melatonin' in the human body. Melatonin is a hormone that helps you sleep. When melatonin is low, it becomes difficult for people to fall asleep automatically. Similarly, watching a serious news, video game or any video at night, our brain goes into an active state. It wakes up the mind, making it difficult to sleep soundly.

Similarly, there are other technical reasons for staying on the phone late at night. As mentioned above, most social media platforms can be 'scrolled' constantly. New posts are automatically loaded while 'scrolling'. It doesn't signal our brain to shut down. Instead, the curiosity of what else is in the brain. So you don't know how the time passed.

How does it harm during sleep? According to experts, decision-making ability is also reduced due to fatigue at night. As there is no point to stop 'scrolling', people are busy with the 'screen' for a long time. Similarly, the 'notifications' that come on devices such as mobiles are also made to attract attention. Each 'vibration' forces the device to turn on repeatedly.

According to a study published in 2021 in Frontiers in Psychology, people who feel more tired during the day are more likely to sleep late at night. Similarly, due to the habit of sleeping late, their fatigue is increasing. Thus the 'cycle' of fatigue and sleep is formed.

According to Psychiatrist Singh, people get stuck in the 'cycle' of insomnia and the effects of insomnia. We start using the device because we don't get sleep. The device does not allow sleep. The mind has a positive distortion. That is, we lie about rewarding the mind. The mind cannot catch a lie. It is difficult to get rid of this cycle once it starts.'

Similarly, 'gestalt therapist' and 'psychologist' Ashish Kafle says that the habit of watching 'screen' gradually turns into an addiction. "Be it stress, anxiety, loneliness, laziness, free time or any other reason, if we are digitally active every day, it becomes addictive. It doesn't let us sleep," he says. "Many people don't know that there are many habits that disrupt the sleep cycle. They spoil the sleep cycle without realizing it.'