Movies have been helping people fall asleep long before "Netflix and chill" entered the scene. However, experts agree that it's not such a great idea. After all, the blue light emitted by our screens is just as powerful and nearly as damaging as the dreaded UV rays. At the same time, it can seem hard to fall asleep without a little screen time. Around 10% to 30% of the adult population has chronic insomnia, which doesn't exactly bode well for your overall health. With that, we aren't going to judge if you want to indulge every now and then. In fact, we even put together a list of the best movies to fall asleep to.
Why Do I Like Falling Asleep To Movies?
Watching movies in bed is, admittedly, not the healthiest choice. For one, it can increase your sleep dept. Watching movies may feel relaxing to you, but you may not be getting the amount of sleep you need with your screens on. Especially if you choose a particularly action-packed one, it's easy to be pulled into the scenes and just watch until the end. And then move on to the next one.
Watching TV before bed may also decrease your melatonin production, so technically speaking it's not helping you sleep at all. It also has adverse effects on your health and increases the risk of obesity.
Still, many people watch movies as a sleep aid. Around 60% of people reportedly watch television in the hour before bed, because this is exactly the type of mind-numbing, relaxing activity that gets you in the mood to sleep. Listed below are a few more reasons why we like watching movies before bed.
1. It acts as white noise
We know that white noise helps people fall asleep. We've all heard how much easier it is to sleep with the sound of rain pitter-pattering on your bedroom window. There are tons of Spotify playlists available strictly on rain sounds, wind blowing, keyboards tapping what have you. Turning the TV on with low audio acts similarly to those playlists. It's background noise that will lull you to sleep in no time flat.
2. It's comfortable
We all take comfort in familiarity. Rewatching familiar TV shows is restorative and a tremendous help with self-control. Listening to familiar sounds also helps, because music has been known to help with sleep and some people believe watching the same shows, again and again, has the same effect.
Tuning in to the same romantic comedy or a familiar comedy-drama may comfort you enough to induce sleep. It's also less stressful than watching a new movie which you don't know the ending to.
3. It poses fewer blue light issues than other devices
While TV does still emit blue light and comes with as much danger as any other screen, Healthline says that compared to other gadgets it may produce a considerably lesser amount of the stuff. It's also less of a problem since you normally watch TV at a farther distance than say, a laptop or a cellphone, which makes all the difference.
The 13 Best Movies for Falling Asleep
Now that we know both the pros and cons of falling asleep while watching movies, we can probably agree that while it's not the worst idea, it's not the best either. Still, if you need to watch movies before sleep, you may want to choose something soothing and familiar over dramas and action-packed flicks. This may go without saying, but horror should probably also be avoided. Unless you find ghosts and blood and serial killers somewhat soothing.
Here are the 13 best movies to fall asleep to, in our opinion.
Other Ways to Fall Asleep
While it is pretty common to drift off to sleep while watching movies, it's not super beneficial for your sleep hygiene. If you want your full eight hours of sleep, there are much more holistic and healthier habits that you can develop to foster good sleep habits, and consequently, better sleep.
You may want to try:
Conclusion
There's nothing more uncomfortable than lying in bed, trying to fall asleep and failing spectacularly. That's where Sandland Sleep can help. Unlike knock-out drugs like benzodiazepines and antidepressants, our products simply send signals to your sleep hormones that it's time to rest. They're safer, easier to use, and they aren't habit-forming.
Our sleep solutions are designed to help anyone experiencing trouble falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night. Made with natural, hemp-derived ingredients and a dose of melatonin, each dose gently sends you to sleep. No psychoactive effects and no grogginess come morning. You'll wake up refreshed, and well-rested, just like you deserve.
