Is your alarm clock bad for your health?

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Now that we are college kids, some of us no longer have the privilege of getting woken up by our soft and comforting voice of our mother. I’m sure most college students use an alarm clock to wake themselves up, whether it be for an early class or if they just don’t want to sleep until noon. There are a couple different ways to use an alarm clock, you could buy a night stand clock and set an alarm on that or use your phone. Which ever one it is, they usually wake you up at a certain time with a little jingle or ringtone, which the user will learn to hate after the first few times it has woken them up. Yes, alarm clocks suck, they take you away from your comfortable bed, or they interrupt you from a really good dream. But has anyone thought that maybe alarm clocks could hurt us, and more than just putting us in a bad mood.

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A study was done by the National Institute of Industrial Health where participants who were suddenly forced awake had higher blood pressure and heart rate than those who woke up on their own time. Dr. Chris Idzikowski explains that the body is very vulnerable during sleep. An alarm that wakes up the whole body can really but a strain on the body. You can read more about the studies here.

The sound of the alarm can raise your blood pressure very easily. When you hear that banging sound, your “fight or flight” response turns on. In this case, its whether to wake up or ignore it and try to go back to bed. But with this response, your blood pressure can suddenly increase and it can pump up your adrenaline levels. Doing this every morning for months can lead to a lot of problems like chronic stress, which contributes to high blood pressure.

So what is the solution to this? How can we stray away from the abrupt sound that wakes you up instantly that the normal alarm clock uses? What if there was an alarm that would wake you up over ten minutes instead of a quick second. There is an app called ZenAwake that wakes you up over ten minutes. At first, the app sounds a gentle chime, which slowly increases in frequency over the ten minutes to wake you up from a more naturally way than waking you up instantly. If you would like to read more about the app, you can click here.

There are other alarm clocks that are made just like that to mimic a natural sleep by gradually waking you up over a period of minutes. These alarm clocks have been scientifically proven to be healthier for humans and they have been known to make the person in a much better mood.

If you feel intrigued to try out this new alarm clock and ditch your loud one, then get the app or buy a new alarm clock and comment on this post how it is! Or you can comment what you think of this and maybe agree that all phones should change their alarm clock to the new and improved one.

2 thoughts on “Is your alarm clock bad for your health?

  1. Johnna Nicole Hayward

    I could really relate to this article. Every morning I wake up thanks to my alarm scaring the sh*t out of me. My heart in pounding and it’s just a miserable situation to be in. But if I turn the volume down or not have my alarm go off as often there’s no hope of me waking up. I really liked the idea of ZenAwake app that you mentioned. I might even look into downloading that on my phone.
    A lot of the studies that I found when looking into this topic more, for example Daily Mail , state that you should “teach” yourself to wake up. It is believed that’s the healthiest option and the best way to avoid all of the effects an alarm clock can have on you. Personally, I don’t think I could ever teach myself to wake up on time. But maybe it’s worth a try?

  2. Annamarie Rose Sassi

    I find this article very interesting, because it relates to practically everyone. Weather people are waking up for school, sports practice, or work, many of us use an alarm on a daily basis. I know personally when the “buzzzzz” on my iPhone wakes me up from a deep sleep, my eyes shoot open, alarmed and confused. I can definitely see how repeatedly waking up to a sudden alarm could have adverse health affects. Interestingly enough, my family has been hesitant to using an alarm clock: My mom’s cousin had a freak accident as a teenager while waking up to an alarm one morning. Her heart suddenly stopped beating and doctors brought her back to life. She was paralyzed and could barely talk. Although this happened over 30 years ago, hearing about such a traumatic event has put me on the fence about using a loud alarm to wake up, and your article further supported my opinion on this!

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