Tired all the time? You could have electronic insomnia

Spending too much time on your smartphone and laptop could be the reason you struggle to get a good night's sleep according to doctors

Spending too much time on your smartphone and laptop could be the reason you struggle to get a good night's sleep according to doctors.

GP's are now telling patients who complain of fatigue to switch off their smartphones, laptops and other electronic gadgets at night and concentrate on getting a good night's sleep.

Last year, a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that Britain is the tired man (or woman) of Europe with one in eight of us grabbing less than six hours of sleep a night.

A survey of 6,000 adults by Cambridge University Hospitals found that before turning out the light, 70 per cent of us go online to update social networking sites, send emails and catch up on celebrity gossip while many of us leave our smartphones on.

Being surrounded by bright lights from computers and mobile phone screens while in bed can confuse the body clock and delay the brain's ability to turn off and it's this that doctors believe is causing Britain's zombie nation.

'It is well recognised that using phones and computers in the bedroom is a common cause of sleep problems,' says Professor Adrian Williams of the London Sleep Centre.

'Read a book in bed,' says Professor Jim Horne another expert on sleep from Loughborough University. 'It's old fashioned but this will help you to conk out naturally.'

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