How Do We Move From Blue Screening to Deep Dreaming?

By Natalie Convertino

It seems as though you can pop a pill to solve just about anything. Unsurprisingly, college students are among the most adept at finding over-the-counter solutions to many of their problems, and, trust us, we have a lot. Pounding headache? Aspirin. That Winter Cold That Everyone Seems To Get? Mucinex. The eternal sleep deprivation dilemma? Melatonin. As sleep sedatives become increasingly normalized and students increasingly overextended, more and more young adults are finding resolution in supplemental melatonin, an over-the-counter pill that mimics melatonin production in the body, to take better control over their sleeping schedule. 

Often, students use supplemental melatonin in an attempt to correct troubles in their sleep patterns, such as insomnia or circadian misalignment. “Our bodies naturally produce melatonin, which helps to set our biological clock,” explains Marissa Bowman, a Ph.D. student in clinical health psychology at The University of Pittsburgh and part of the University’s Center for Sleep and Circadian Science. “Melatonin helps our bodies to know when it is day and time to be awake, and when it is night and time to be asleep.” So when we experience this misalignment, it results in inappropriate sleep and wake times, hindering the mind and body and negatively impacting an already overworked, stressed-out college student. While melatonin is the first choice quick fix for many students, it doesn’t come without some adverse effects. Bowman describes the short-term side effects of higher doses of melatonin (more than 10 mg) to include “headaches, hyper or hypotension, or upset stomach,” but admits that some of the long-term consequences may still be unknown. Like any drug, OTC melatonin comes with its fair share of known and unknown health consequences, but its seemingly simple nature generates universal appeal. 

Pitt’s student body is no exception to the surge in collegiate melatonin use. A survey of 240 current undergraduate students at Pitt consisted of various questions about their personal experience with supplemental melatonin use. The results revealed that just over half of surveyed students have used melatonin at some point to fall asleep, and 22.4 percent of surveyed students use melatonin regularly, or most nights of the week. While 71.4 percent of those who reported being regular melatonin users say that they could stop at any time, 62 percent of these same users would find it difficult to fall or stay asleep at night without their melatonin supplement. Additionally, some Pitt students are experimenting with inhalation techniques to self-administer their nightly dose of melatonin. As popularized by the video social media app TikTok, melatonin vape pens such as ‘Cloudy’ are appealing due to their sleek design and fast-working mechanism, but Bowman warns that “there are no studies to test whether inhalation is an efficient way of delivering melatonin to your body. Right now, I think it makes sense to use melatonin in pill form until we know more about whether this device is helpful.” 

Proper melatonin usage is becoming increasingly important, what with the current COVID-19 pandemic forcing many universities, including Pitt, to take an online learning approach. More students are using computers, laptops, tablets, and other devices for classroom learning, and for much longer periods of time. Continuous exposure to blue light, especially late at night, suppresses our natural melatonin production, resulting in decreased levels of the hormone and disrupted sleep for many. At Pitt, 64.3 percent of surveyed students found it more difficult to fall or stay asleep since the university switched to online learning, regardless of whether or not they previously or currently use supplemental melatonin. Bowman explains this trend, saying “Blue light can shift our biological clock and can be acutely alerting. Exposure to blue light at night can delay the clock, making it harder to fall asleep at your desired bedtime.” 

As a result of this interruption, students may seek a solution in melatonin. This might explain why one-quarter of surveyed Pitt students have taken melatonin at least once since classes switched to remote learning, with 3.3 percent of these students now reporting regular use and 8.7 percent of previous users reporting an increase in frequency or dosage. Bowman also has a helpful, melatonin-free recommendation: Use blue light filtering glasses, especially ones with color-tinted lenses that reduce nearly 100% of blue light transmission, or even the app f.Lux/night shift on your phone to overall reduce daily blue light intake. “These all work to lower blue light emissions from your device,” she says.

Considering nearly one-quarter of the surveyed students  at Pitt are self-proclaimed regular melatonin users, it is worth shifting our focus towards proper self-medication. According to Dr. Mazen El Ali, the director of the Sleep Lab at UPMC Mercy Hospital, “In sleep-onset insomnia, we generally recommend 3 mg or 5 mg dosage to be taken around one hour before bedtime, its role is mainly as a hypnotic [to help with falling asleep].” However,  he cautioned “For delayed sleep phase (i.e. when your sleep schedule is shifted to fall asleep late, generally after midnight, and wake up later), it becomes a problem for students especially when their biologic clock for falling asleep is misaligned with their school schedule, where they may have classes early in the morning,” explains El Ali. “[In this case], we will use small doses of no more than 1 mg to be taken 3-4 hours before bedtime; the exogenous melatonin given earlier than the time of its usual endogenous secretion helps to shift the circadian rhythm to earlier in the night.” Evaluating your own needs and conditions carefully is of incredible importance in order to use melatonin in the most effective way. El Ali stresses that “if a student is struggling with insomnia, they should seek help and avoid pre-medicating themselves without a complete assessment by their primary care physician or sleep specialist. Generally, trying Melatonin is safe but the use of other drugs may have deleterious effects.” Assess your sleeping situation and then decide if self-medication is appropriate for you or if it's time to check in with a professional. 

The widespread phenomenon of ‘self-melatonining’ on our own campus shouldn’t be seen as a matter of good or bad, but rather a matter of seeking sleep solutions that are both safe and practical. With Zoom as our classroom, sleep-seeking student populations continue to expand daily, leaving more and more of us trapped in our own little blue-lit worlds. The routine is well known: Wake up, lounge in bed, switch between the desk and the couch to do work, and then get back in bed early and stare at your phone before finally trying to sleep. The days blend together and our screens are the only light we really see anymore. Melatonin seems to be the most successful option for some to gain control of these days slipping away and to establish a new COVID-era schedule. And right now, it might just be the right solution for you. So kids, if you are going to do drugs, be safe, be mindful, and listen to your body. Because ultimately, sleep matters.