Ever wake up with mysterious text message exchanges on your phone? There’s a good reason for it.
According to a new study carried out by Villanova University and published in the Journal of American College Health, not only do people text while they sleep, 72 per cent don’t even remember it.
After surveying 372 students from two different universities back in 2013, researchers measured both sleep quality and cellphone usage while they were asleep. Not only did they record the amount of hours they slept, participants also recorded where they kept their phone.
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Results proved interesting: more than a quarter said they texted in their sleep while astonishingly, 72 per cent didn’t remember until checking their phone the next day.
Unsurprisingly, those who texted while getting shuteye also reported interrupted sleep and keeping their phone in their bed.
“The majority were unwilling to turn off their phone at night,” says Elizabeth Dowdell, the lead author of the Villanova study, speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Some students even said that the behaviour started in high school.”
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How does it happen?
According to previous research, there are a number of factors: similar to sleep talking and sleep eating, you can suffer from parasomnia which can cause you to ‘wake up’ despite being asleep. Alcohol can also play a part – drinking before bed can cause you to lose memory, and not remember sending off that risky text.
“Who controls technology? We control it. We’re the ones who turn it on and we’re the ones who turn it off,” Dowdell continues.
“If you can’t turn it off, consider putting some boundaries around it like sleep mode or program it so that only certain people can text through at night. Also, don’t sleep with your phone in bed.”
