Is My Phone Harming My Sleep? A Q&A with Jared Minkel, Ph.D.

This article is part of a Q&A series in which a healthcare professional in our community answers your frequently asked questions. Here, we talked to Jared Minkel, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist who develops digital therapeutics at Twill. Minkel explains exactly how smartphones harm sleep and what you can do about it.

We asked: “How does my phone affect my sleep?”

Jared Minkel, Ph.D.: I grew up before anyone had cellphones. They actually exploded onto the scene while I was at college—one day, everyone had those little Nokia brick phones. It’s been amazing to see the rapid progress in technology, but unfortunately, smartphones have really been terrible for our sleep.