Are You A Sleep Texter? It's More Common Than You Think

We all know that sleeping with our phones probably isn't ideal, but it's a pretty tough habit to break. After all, who doesn't want to check their phone as soon as they wake up, and how many of us own an old-fashioned alarm clock?

But according to a new study, sleep texting could be yet another reason to keep your trusty smartphone well away from your bed. Researchers at Villanova University in Pennsylvania found that more than a quarter of the 372 students they polled reported texting in their sleep.

Even more worryingly, more than seven in 10 of the sleep texters said they had no recollection of doing it, meaning they could potentially be WhatsApping absolute nonsense to parents, partners or even their boss.

"The majority of the sleep texting students had no memory of the texting behaviour as well as who or what they texted,” said the study's author, Elizabeth B. Dowdell. "The lack of memory is not surprising as sleep research has found that people awakened after sleeping more than a few minutes are usually unable to recall the last few minutes before they fall asleep."

The study also found, pretty unsurprisingly, that "students [who] sleep text were more likely to report sleep interruption".

Refinery29's Sarah Raphael recently visited the UK's only insomnia clinic and was told that sleeping next to a phone is a no-go for anyone having trouble getting to sleep.

"Blue light from your phone stops your brain producing melatonin, which is the hormone your body releases in preparation for sleep. We’ve all heard this before, and conveniently ignored it before," she writes in an article explaining what she learned at the clinic.

"But if you’re serious about improving your sleep, put your phone outside your bedroom 20-30 minutes before bed and buy a good old-fashioned alarm clock."

Check out a few examples of sleep texting shared on Twitter below – and if you've sent worse, rest assured that you're probably not the only one.