What Is Orthosomnia? All You Need To Know About It

2018 is here and we have all committed to leading a healthy life. From monitoring the number of steps we take each day to counting every single calorie you consume and burn, keeping track of health has become the new cool. But there is another factor which affects our overall health and that factor is sleep. And just like all other things we track daily, we have now come to tracking our sleep as well. And by tracking we refer to everything, from the number of hours we slept to the quality of sleep.
What is orthosomnia?
Don’t get us wrong here; there is nothing wrong with tracking your sleep. In fact, it is good to know that everything is fine with your sleep pattern. However, the trouble begins when you become obsessed with the same. If we look at the literal meaning of this word, it means correct sleep. However, orthosomnia was used by researchers to define a condition wherein a person is obsessed with tracking sleep cycle tendencies. And these sleep trackers are now becoming a serious obsession which altogether is hard to ignore.
Why is orthosomnia a disorder?
Orthosomnia has turned out to be a new sleep disorder. Now technically there is nothing wrong about tracking sleep, but as a matter of fact, there indeed is a problem. Being overly concerned about sleep pattern also induces stress, which again hampers your sleep altogether. So being too cautious about health is also a stress-inducing condition which again has an adverse impact on your health.
Besides this, it is also considered to be a disorder because people rely too much on what the sleep tracker says. But not many people are aware of the fact that sleep trackers are not completely accurate. In some cases, if you feel that you slept well, the tracker may show just the opposite, thereby raising anxiety and stress in you regarding your sleep pattern.
Besides this, scientists say that any form of screen is not good for your sleep. The reason is the fact that these screens emit light and hamper the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. This is one of the reasons why people are recommended to keep their phones and laptops away while going off to sleep so that its light does not lead to disruptions.