Sleeping With the TV On: Risks and Benefits

Many people have their eyes on a screen before falling asleep, but is it OK to sleep with the TV on? Research has found that sleeping with the TV on may disrupt your sleep, which may lead to anxiety and irritability. Other risks include heart disease, high blood pressure, or weight.

The background noise can be relaxing or sleep-inducing for some people. The comfort and familiarity of your favorite movie or TV show may reduce the anxiety that keeps you awake at night. Alternatives like ambient noise and relaxing music may also offer these benefits.

Research has shown that sleeping with the TV on can negatively affect your health in several ways. The TV emits blue light, which can interrupt sleep. Bright lights and loud noises may make it hard to fall asleep or cause you to wake up frequently in the middle of the night. One study has also found that blue light can disrupt melatonin production.

It’s also possible that sleeping with the TV has some benefits. It can help you feel more comfortable as you fall asleep.

Experts advise that adults get seven to eight hours of sleep per day. Sleeping with the TV on may make it challenging to meet this goal by keeping your mind stimulated. Research has shown that using media of any kind as a sleep aid promotes poor sleep hygiene.

One study found that 15% of people surveyed had trouble falling asleep with the TV on. Nearly 20% felt tired when waking up. 

Not getting enough sleep impairs your ability to focus, think clearly, and recall memories. Other adverse effects of sleep deprivation on mood include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Irritability
• Trouble with relationships

Light helps manage your sleep-wake cycle. Light from the sun keeps you awake during the day. Artificial light, or blue light, from your phone, a room light, or a TV can keep you awake at night.

Falling asleep with your TV on means exposing yourself to blue light from electronics. Blue light exposure can affect your sleep quality by suppressing melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle.

Blue light can delay sleep onset, or the time it takes to fall asleep. Some evidence suggests that sleep onset of less than 30 minutes signals good quality sleep.

The flickering of the TV screen may lengthen sleep onset and reduce rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. You may miss out on the essential restorative work your body does during REM sleep, such as consolidating memories.

The stimulating audio and light from a TV may impact your mood. It can also raise your risk of health concerns like:

Research has found that sleep deprivation is linked to weight gain. One study examined the effects of light on sleep and weight among 43,000 women aged 35-74. The researchers found that women who slept with a TV had a 17% higher risk of gaining weight than others. Women who slept with a room light did not have significant weight gain.

Some evidence suggests that media use before bed may not affect sleep quality despite the possible risks. According to Vikas Jain, MD, a clinical assistant professor of sleep medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, using the TV to fall asleep may have benefits like:

• A source of white noise: Setting the volume on the TV not so loud that it prevents your body from going into sleep mode has a similar effect to using a white noise machine. The ambient noise helps reduce the time it takes you to fall asleep.
• Offers comfort: Streaming a movie or TV show you have seen multiple times offers familiarity. That’s especially the case if what you are watching is lighter in nature. This comfort may lessen any anxiety or racing thoughts that keep you awake. 
• Reduces blue light: Watching TV on an actual television—instead of a phone or tablet right in front of your face—may lessen your blue light exposure.

You may achieve these same benefits without turning on the TV. Research has found that as many as half of people use some sort of sound to help them fall asleep.

Sleep aids that provide calming audio without emitting blue light include:

• Ambient noises: Color noises (e.g., brown, pink, or white noise) may help you fall asleep without blue light exposure. Pink noise consists of low sound waves and is softer than white noise, which includes equal levels of all frequencies. Other calming noises include fan, sea, and rain sounds.
• Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR): This includes auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli that induce relaxation. You might listen to the sounds of tapping on various objects or typing on a keyboard to calm down. There’s a lack of evidence on ASMR and its effects on sleep. 
• Music: Music helps lower blood pressure and heart rate and slow breathing. Consider playing your favorite classical or slow songs on a low volume to mimic the comfort and familiarity of your favorite TV show without blue light. 

Consider slowly lessening your TV use to help improve your sleep hygiene. Try avoiding the TV screen and listening to only the audio. Turning off autoplay may also reduce the chances that changes in sound or flickering lights disturb you during lighter sleep stages. 

Make sure you do not become too dependent on TV as a sleep aid. Reinforcing the link between sleep and TV can make it hard to drift off without it, especially in environments where you do not have access.

Reinforce other calming bedtime behaviors, such as:

• Listen to calming music
• Read a book
• Take a warm bath
• Try progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), a technique in which you clench and relax different body parts
• Use a low light close to bedtime 

Having various sleep-promoting options helps avoid becoming too reliant on any one habit. You will be able to get a good night’s sleep no matter the environment you are in.

Anxiety and racing thoughts are the most common reasons people have trouble sleeping. Keeping the TV on low may help you drift off to sleep if it calms you down. More research is needed to know the effects of watching TV on sleep.

There are better ways to promote good sleep hygiene than watching TV, such as listening to calming music or reading a book. Consult a healthcare provider if you try implementing these bedtime habits but still have trouble sleeping.