Is your phone ruining your Hormones? Lets Talk about it...
Hi Mobsters, It’s Leah, Founder and CEO of The House of Hormones, delivering you your weekly dose of wellbeing intel.
Be honest with yourself for a second: how many times have you checked your phone today? If your instinct is to say, “I’d rather not admit it,” then trust me, you’re in very good company.This week, there’s been a lot of chatter in wellness circles about how our late-night scrolling might be doing more than keeping us entertained. It turns out, it’s quietly tugging at our hormonal strings in ways most women haven’t been warned about. And as someone who works closely with families, sleep patterns, and stress cycles, I can tell you: our phones are playing a much bigger role in our wellbeing than we realise.Let’s start with the most obvious culprit, light. Your body has this beautiful, delicate hormone called melatonin, which rises naturally in the evening to help you wind down. But the second you lift that bright screen in front of your face at 10pm, your brain gets the message: “Rise and shine, sweetheart, morning has arrived.” So instead of sliding into rest mode, your system gets stuck in a sort of half-alert limbo. Women in perimenopause are especially sensitive to this disruption, which might explain why so many find themselves exhausted yet unable to fall asleep. But it isn’t just the brightness, it’s the content. Every scroll delivers tiny hits of dopamine, the same chemical your brain releases when you eat chocolate or hear good news. It feels great in the moment, but it’s incredibly stimulating. Your mind ends up buzzing long after you put the phone down. When you're already juggling childcare, work, emotional labour, and the pressure to “look after yourself” (as if that’s another job we needed), your nervous system really doesn’t need any extra revving.Then there’s cortisol, the hormonal diva. Late-night phone use keeps cortisol higher than it should be, which can affect everything from your blood sugar and inflammation to PMS, anxiety, and perimenopause symptoms. If you’re someone who often wakes up around 3am, heart racing and mind switched on, that’s usually a sign that your cortisol rhythm is out of sync. And yes… your bedtime scrolling habit could be part of the problem. Now, before you panic: no, I’m not about to suggest you lock your phone in a drawer at 6pm every night. Most of us live in the real world, a world where we answer messages while brushing our teeth and fall asleep after catching up on insta. I get it.
But what I am saying is that a few small shifts can make an outsized difference. Warming your screen light, putting your phone down just a little earlier, and giving yourself a tiny moment of calm before bed can help your hormones settle and support the rest your body has been begging for. Your phone isn’t the enemy. But your hormones, especially during perimenopause, parenthood, or just modern womanhood, deserve a fighting chance. Tiny tweaks, less guilt, more awareness. That’s the real wellness sweet spot. Lots of love THOH
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