Are You Sleep Texting? Time to Unplug

Nowadays teens seem inseparable from their cellphones, often treating it as an extension of their own body. It is like a constant companion, as they consider it to be a centerpiece of their communication strategies. Teens feel stressed when disconnected from cellphones and the Internet, things that they have grown up with.  A life without a cellphone is highly impossible, with these tools of communication being always glued to their hands. They eat with the cellphone held in one hand, sleep with the cellphone kept under their pillow and spring to respond every time their phone beeps.

The need to be available to friends 24/7 forces teens to text while sleeping and they are unaware that they are 'sleep texting'. Experts believe that sleep texting is on the rise and slowly becoming a common occurrence among teens.

Dr. Elizabeth Dowdell, a professor of nursing at Villanova University, reported to a CBS affiliate in Philadelphia stating, "It's just what you'd think it is, its texting while asleep. It's exactly what it sounds like, or really more between that, you know, that area between being asleep and being awake."

According to Dr. Dowdell, this concept of sleep texting is increasing, as more and more teens are texting in their sleep.

Though Dr. Dowdell has not conducted any study on this aspect, she has enough evidence to support her theory that sleep texting is on the rise.

She continues saying that the moment the phone beeps they will answer the text, and most often respond in words or gibberish. And when they wake up they have no memory of having replied to a text, reports CBS local.

Based on Dr. Dowdell's reports, Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, agreed by saying to The Huffington Post, "With the advent of texting, I would absolutely say there's a significant uptick in this type of thing."

He continues to say that this is an arousal disorder. Somebody wakes up but is not completely awake from his sleep. People will reach over, and not even half awake, will answer their texts.

Dr. Dowdell highlights the health factors sleep interruptions trigger. It can cause obesity, a leading problem among teens, depression, low grades and many more.

She suggests that teens unplug at night and try to stay out of the reach of their cellphones in order to have a sound sleep and avoid sleep texting.

View Video and check the affect of sleep texting.