Have you ever had this experience: when you have been busy all day and can finally lie down in bed to rest, you don’t want to sleep. Instead, you want to read your mobile phone or novel for a while and enjoy your own time? This phenomenon is called ‘retaliatory staying up late’ and is a psychological compensation mechanism. But does this compensation really make you feel better? Or will it make you sink deeper into fatigue and anxiety? This article will explain to you the causes and harms of ‘retaliatory staying up late’ and how to effectively avoid it.
What is staying up late with revenge?
Revenge bedtime procrastination means that when we do not have enough time and space to meet our needs and interests during the day, we will deliberately delay going to bed at night to make up for the lost personal time. This behavior is usually due to a compensatory psychology (Compensation), that is, in order to relieve the stress and dissatisfaction during the day, one seeks to do something happy or relaxing at night.
Compensation psychology is a self-defense mechanism (Defense mechanism), which can help us maintain normal mental health. When we are frustrated due to physical or psychological problems, we will unconsciously use some methods or other areas to make up for this shortcoming in an attempt to reduce the anxiety caused by the frustration. For example, a person who is failing in his career may use domestic violence to gain satisfaction, or a student who is struggling academically may use gaming to improve his self-confidence.
However, not all compensation is beneficial. Some compensation may be negative, such as domestic violence and gaming addiction mentioned above. Some compensation may be excessive, such as staying up late with revenge. These compensations may create more negative consequences than actually solving the problem.
What are the dangers of staying up late with revenge?
Staying up late with revenge may seem like a way to comfort yourself, but it’s actually an act of self-harm. It will cause problems in the following aspects:
- Reduced sleep quality: When we use mobile phones, computers or other electronic devices at night, we are exposed to large amounts of blue light. Blue light inhibits our body’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that helps us fall asleep and regulates our circadian rhythm. Therefore, we may find it difficult to fall asleep, have shallow sleep, wake up easily, and have many dreams. These will affect our mental state and work efficiency the next day.
- Impaired physical health: Long-term lack of sleep can cause serious damage to our bodies. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), people who sleep less than 6 hours a day are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and obesity than those who sleep 7-8 hours a day. Additionally, lack of sleep can lower our immunity, making us more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections.
- Increased psychological stress: Staying up late with revenge cannot really solve our problems during the day, but will make us more anxious and depressed. When we do something meaningless or unhelpful at night, we feel guilty, self-blame, powerless, and empty. These negative emotions can affect our mental health and even lead to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. And, when we get up the next day, we find that we don’t have enough time and energy to deal with the day’s affairs, sinking deeper into a vicious cycle.
How to effectively avoid staying up late with revenge?
To get rid of the obsession with staying up late with a vengeance, we need to fundamentally change our mindset and habits. Here are some helpful suggestions:
1. Improve your sense of control over your life
Staying up late with revenge is often because we feel that we do not have enough autonomy and choice during the day, and we can do what we want to do at night. Therefore, we need to increase our sense of control over our lives and make ourselves feel more proactive and motivated. We can achieve this in several ways:
- Set reasonable goals and plans: We can set some specific, feasible and challenging goals according to our own abilities and circumstances, and formulate corresponding plans and steps. In this way, we can have a clear direction and motivation instead of passively coping with various things in life.
- Learn to say no and make choices: We can’t do everything perfectly, nor can we meet everyone’s expectations. Therefore, we need to learn to say no to unnecessary or unimportant things, and to choose from lower or higher priority things. This way, we can save time and energy and focus on the things we care about most and are most valuable to.
- Cultivate some hobbies: We can find some time during the day to do some things that we like or are interested in, such as reading, writing, painting, sports, etc. These things can relax us, improve creativity, increase happiness, and also give us a greater sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
2. Give yourself enough rest time
‘Staying up late with revenge’ is actually a wrong way of resting, and it doesn’t allow us to truly relax and restore energy. On the contrary, it makes us more tired and irritable. Therefore, we need to give ourselves enough rest time to allow our body and mind to fully repair. We can achieve this in several ways:
- Ensure adequate and regular sleep: Sleep is the most important and most effective way to rest. It can help us eliminate fatigue, improve memory, enhance immunity, prevent diseases, etc. Therefore, we need to ensure at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day and try to maintain a regular schedule.
- Avoid using electronic devices before bed: As mentioned before, electronic devices emit blue light, which affects our melatonin secretion and biological clock. Therefore, we should avoid using cell phones, computers, or other electronic devices at least an hour before bed. We can use some other ways to relax ourselves, such as reading, meditating, listening to music, etc.
- Create a comfortable sleeping environment: Our sleeping environment also affects the quality of our sleep. We should try to keep our bedrooms clean, quiet, dark and at a moderate temperature. We can use some tools to help us achieve this goal, such as curtains, earplugs, eye masks, air conditioners, etc.
- Establish a fixed bedtime routine: Our body and brain will adjust themselves according to our habits. If we can establish a regular bedtime routine, we can make it easier to fall asleep and stay in deep sleep. We can choose some activities that are conducive to relaxation and stress reduction, such as taking a bath, drinking milk, doing yoga, etc.
- Use breaks during the day to take a nap: In addition to sleeping at night, taking a nap during the day is also an effective way to rest. It can help us restore energy, improve concentration, increase creativity, improve mood, and more.
There is also something special about taking a nap. Generally speaking, the nap time should not be too long, otherwise it will affect the quality of sleep at night and the state of the next day. According to different purposes, nap time can be divided into the following types:
- 10-20 minutes: This is the ideal nap time, which allows us to enter light sleep (Stage 1 and 2), thereby improving alertness and reaction speed.
- 30 minutes: This is an awkward nap time that puts us into deep sleep (Stage 3 and 4), leading to sleep inertia, which is feeling confused and sleepy after waking up.
- 60 minutes: This is a nap time that is more suitable for learners. It allows us to complete a complete sleep cycle (Stage 1 to REM), thereby improving memory and learning abilities.
- 90 minutes: This is a nap time that is more suitable for creators. It allows us to complete a complete sleep cycle (Stage 1 to REM), thereby improving creativity and emotional stability.
- Choose a suitable nap time: Generally speaking, it is best to take a nap between 2 pm and 4 pm, because this is the time when the human body’s circadian rhythm is at its lowest and it is also when we are easiest to When you feel sleepy. If we take a nap during this time, we can avoid affecting the quality of sleep at night and the state of the next day. However, if we have a special schedule, such as night shift or morning shift, we can adjust the nap time according to our own situation.
- Choose a suitable place to take a nap: The place where we take a nap will also affect the quality of our nap. We should try to choose a quiet, comfortable, dark and moderate temperature place, such as a bedroom, sofa, office, etc. We can use some tools to help us achieve this goal, such as curtains, earplugs, eye masks, air conditioners, etc.
3. Balance work and play
Staying up late with revenge is often because we are too busy and nervous during the day and can only find some ways to have fun and relax at night. Therefore, we need to balance the proportion of work and entertainment so that we can have some fun and satisfaction during the day. We can achieve this in several ways:
- Use time during commuting and housework for entertainment: We can find some boring or trivial time during the day to do some entertainment and relaxation, such as listening to music, listening to podcasts, watching videos, playing games, etc. These things can distract us, relieve stress, and also allow us to learn some new knowledge or skills.
- Reward yourself with delicious food: We can prepare some delicious food for ourselves during the day, or go to some restaurants we like. These foods can satisfy our taste buds, improve our sense of well-being, and replenish our nutrition and energy.
- Keep in touch with relatives and friends: We can find some time during the day to chat, call, video or meet with relatives and friends. These close interpersonal relationships can make us feel warm and supported, improve our social skills, and allow us to share our joys, sorrows, and joys.
Conclusion
‘Staying up late with revenge’ is an unhealthy psychological phenomenon that can cause serious damage to our body and mind. We all know that it is difficult to quit staying up late if we are used to it. Everyone is eager to find a breathing space in this tiring life. But try to stay up less late for a day or two, it will be better for your body!
Sleep problems seem to be just physiological problems, but they are affected by many psychological factors and living habits. If you have trouble sleeping, you should take it seriously.
Free Online Psychological Test:
Link to this article: https://m.psyctest.cn/article/Vm5bmyG6/
If the original article is reprinted, please indicate the author and the source in the form of this link.
