Young people, why do you like staying up late more and more?

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once recorded a story in his book "History": A fortune teller told the Pharaoh that he only had six years left to live. The Pharaoh was very panicked, so he immediately ordered his servants to light torches in his palace every night, so that the night would turn into day and his six years would turn into twelve.

Thousands of years have passed, and the pharaoh could not have imagined that many young people today would follow in his footsteps and extend the night into a black day. Not long ago, the topic #Why do more and more young people like to stay up late? # also became a hot search on Weibo, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

Studies have shown that staying up late is very common in today's society, with 53.1% of young and middle-aged people saying they have the habit of staying up late. When asked why they stay up late, the reasons given are very diverse.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Why do young people like to stay up late?

Many studies have been trying to uncover the secrets of why young people stay up late. We found that there are three main reasons why young people stay up late:

You can’t control the daytime, only the night after the busy work is yours.

Dense schedules, piles of reports, and never-ending work... In this busy and fast-paced society, most young people have to rush around at work or study.

Many people do not have much control over their daytime hours. In order to gain more "time for themselves", many young people choose to "stay up late" at night. If they do not "stay up late", they will feel that "they are being treated unfairly", so it is difficult for them to compromise with sleepiness. Therefore, when night falls and all social work is over, young people finally have some "time that belongs only to themselves".

Lying on the sofa with eyes closed, squatting on the toilet in a daze, curling up in bed to clear their minds... Even if they have nothing to do during this time, they still think that this kind of "staying up late" is worth it, because this time can be completely "controlled" by them, and it is a rare and comfortable time that they can freely dispose of. Therefore, young people are not staying up late, but for a short period of freedom.

It's not that I didn't sleep on purpose, but the game/video was too good

Of course, there are also some people who are purely focused on a certain activity, such as an intense ball game, a plot full of twists and turns, sweet interactions between lovers, etc. In the immersion, the flow of time seems to speed up, and unconsciously it becomes staying up late. This kind of sleep delay usually occurs on weekends or holidays. Our body will allow this "social jet lag" to exist, because the subconscious mind knows that even if you stay up late, you will have enough rest time tomorrow.

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Who stays up late? They just want to sleep better.

Some people delay sleep strategically, claiming that "staying up late is for better sleep." Sometimes, although night has come, the energy has not dissipated, the nerves are still very excited, and the sleep standard is not met; some people do it to "scare the brain" by strategically delaying bedtime to build up sleep pressure, telling the brain that it will be too late if it doesn't sleep now, thereby shortening the time to fall asleep. In short, "stay up the latest night and get the best sleep" is the declaration of this type of people who stay up late.

These factors also cause some people to stay up late

First, there are physiological factors. Endogenous biological clocks control the daily rhythms of humans in basic aspects of physiology and behavior, including the timing of sleep and wakefulness. They are mainly driven by sunlight, forming a 24-hour day and night cycle. Depending on the type of individual endogenous biological clock, people's optimal state is also different: for example, early sleepers (larks) tend to go to bed early and get up early, while late sleepers (owls) are often in their best state at night, so they are more likely to stay up late.

In addition, age also has an impact. The release of melatonine in adolescent children will be delayed, which will cause their sleep stage to be delayed by about 2 hours compared to adults. Studies have also shown that due to the influence of menstrual cycles, steroids, etc., women are generally more likely to stay up late than men. High or low blood pressure will also affect staying up late. A 2020 study in South Korea showed that compared with the low blood pressure group, people in the high blood pressure group went to bed 50 minutes later on average, woke up 46 minutes later on average, and had a greater tendency to go to bed late.

In addition to physiological factors, the activities and state before going to bed are also crucial. For example, the flashing electronic devices and the indoor environment as bright as daylight, these "technology and hard work" in modern society will directly interfere with the main biological clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain, causing sleepiness disorder.

Other studies have shown that stress, boredom, self-control, and emotional state can also affect sleep delay. Take emotions as an example. Studies have shown that people feel more unhappy after watching a video before going to bed. This may be because they return to reality after highly entertaining and immersive activities, which makes them prone to a sense of loss. In this era of short videos, swiping your phone before going to bed can really affect your mood and sleep.

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How to relieve staying up late and sleep soundly?

Scientists are also looking for ways to deal with staying up late.

Many successful practices revolve around a core issue: the development of sleep hygiene habits. Sleep hygiene is defined as a set of behavioral and environmental recommendations designed to promote healthy sleep, mostly around regular exercise, abstaining from caffeine and nicotine, eliminating noise from the sleeping environment, and reducing naps.

Dr. Satchin Panda, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, advocated in The Circadian Code the principle of "eight hours of restricted diet, seven hours of sleep, and 12 weeks of continuous sleep", that is, eating at any time of the day (eight consecutive hours), and stopping consuming any caloric food at other times; ensuring at least seven hours of sleep a day; this pattern must be maintained for at least 12 weeks. He believes that exercising at the right time, eating at the right time, and sleeping at the right time are not only an optimization adjustment of the human body's biological clock, but also a non-drug intervention measure to cultivate good sleep habits.

Some scientists also believe that procrastination before going to bed usually occurs when people lack mental energy or self-control, so we can try to satisfy our desires during the day. For example, if you want to eat dessert, don't suppress it until the night, and if you want to slack off during work or study, just let it go for a while. In this way, the resources for self-regulation will not be exhausted at night, and we will be less likely to make the decision to stay up late. If you often stay up late, it may be because you are too harsh on yourself during the day. Try to make yourself more comfortable.

Time cannot be created, so we, like the Pharaoh mentioned at the beginning, try to occupy the night to obtain the scarce resource of time. However, the night is not only a continuation of the day, but also an opportunity given to us by the ancient genetic code to rest well, so everyone should go to bed early and stay up late less.

I hope everyone can have a good sleep tonight, and all troubles will be gone after a good night’s sleep.

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Black General Popular Science Writer

Reviewer: Fan Chunlei, Associate Researcher, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences