Excessive online engagement is causing ‘social media-related nightmares,’ experts say

Social media can be a literal nightmare.

New research suggests that the more time you spend on social media and the more emotionally connected you are to your presence, the more likely you are to toss and turn during the night because of “social media-related nightmares.”

“As social media becomes increasingly intertwined with our lives, its impact extends beyond waking hours and may influence our dreams,” Flinders University’s Reza Shabahang from the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work said in a statement.

The research, involving 595 Iranian adult social media users and published in the journal BMC Psychology found a strong correlation between social media screen time and these new types of bad dreams.

These new “social media-related nightmares” were found to stem from the stresses and anxieties of online experiences and usually involve social media-related themes, such as cyberbullying, online hate or excessive social media use.

To study the relationship between swiping and nightmares, an international team of researchers created the Social Media Nightmare-Related Scale (SMNS), a 14-item questionnaire.

While the majority of the social media users surveyed did not experience social media-related nightmares, there was a significant link between the intensity of social media use and the occurrence of these dreams.

“Whilst social media-related nightmares are relatively rare, those who use social media more during their daily lives are more likely to have social media-related nightmares that are associated with negative mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, depression and sleep quality,” Shabahang said.

This recent study comes as people are becoming increasingly concerned with the physical and mental health impacts of social media and poor sleep as they seem to be on the rise.

“With the rapid advances in technology and media, including artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality, along with the increasing dependency on these technologies and deeper integration, it is anticipated that dreams featuring technological and media content will become more frequent,” Shabahang noted.

To combat this, the researchers suggest that social media users work to be more aware of how they engage with these platforms and the thoughts and feelings that arise and then create a relaxing sleep environment.

Scrolling on social media has become part of many people’s bedtime routine, but experts strongly recommend against it, noting that those sites are made to keep you online and can impact your mind long after you’ve logged off.

“You wake up tired, feel like you’re on the back foot and you’re not able to live the day at your best, and therefore then you’re tired throughout the day and at the end, you’re craving that doom scrolling,” Rachel Beard, sleep wellness manager at mattress brand A.H.Beard, previously told News.com.au.

Instead, sleep experts recommend ending screen time one hour before shutting your eyes, instead opting for something that helps you unwind such as reading or tidying up.