Screen Time and Sleep: What the Research Actually Shows

Smartphone screens are lighting up Tehran's bedrooms well past midnight—and it's costing many residents a good night's rest. A recent analysis of local health records suggests Tehranis are getting less sleep than at any point in the last decade, with excessive evening screen time emerging as a significant culprit.

As the hottest start to summer in years drives more people indoors and online, understanding how screens affect rest has become a pressing health issue. Summer school students at area universities and late-shift workers in the capital's tech sector are finding themselves caught in a cycle of late-night browsing and stubborn insomnia. For a city with an active wellness culture—where parks on Valiasr Street and sports centres in districts like Shahrak-e Gharb teem with joggers as late as 10pm—the irony of a population too tired to enjoy its own energy is not lost on local health professionals.

The Tehran Connection: Screens and Sleeplessness

At the Laleh Park Wellbeing Centre, staff report a 30% increase this year in residents seeking help for chronic sleep difficulties. Cafés along Enghelab Street, once bustling with students studying over books, now feature rows of faces illuminated by the glow of phones and laptops. "We've noticed a direct relationship between screen usage in the hours before sleep and complaints about fatigue and inability to focus," said a sleep educator from the Tehran Sleep Health Association (TSHA)—a non-profit group whose seminars regularly fill conference rooms at the University of Tehran's main campus.

This shift is not just anecdotal. According to a 2025 survey by Iran’s National Sleep Foundation, the average adult living in Tehran gets 6 hours and 10 minutes of sleep a night—down from the 7-hour average reported in 2016. Among teens, who make up nearly 20% of the population in District 3 and District 6, nightly screen use of more than two hours was linked to a 45% increase in reported trouble falling asleep. Blue light emitted by modern LED screens reduces melatonin production, making it physiologically harder to wind down, explains the TSHA's educational pamphlet, distributed free at Tajrish Metro station health kiosks since April.

What You Can Do

With digital devices now a fixture of everyday life from Esteghlal Mall’s food court to the study halls of the Shahid Beheshti University, quick fixes are in high demand. The Laleh Park Wellbeing Centre charges just 350,000 toman for its new weekend workshop on "Digital Detox for Sleep Health." For those seeking simpler solutions, doctors recommend switching screens to "night mode" after 9pm, putting phones out of reach at least 30 minutes before bed, and reserving the last part of the evening for a calming routine—like an herbal tea from Ostad Nejatollahi Street’s traditional apothecaries or a short walk near Darakeh’s foothills.

For now, Tehran's wellness organisations are betting that with a little education and practical change, the city’s sleep deficit isn’t insurmountable. But as digital habits dig in and temperatures remain high, it will take a concerted effort from families, schools and workplaces to truly help the city rest easy.