Sleep is important in life. In order to have a peaceful sleep at night, many people change expensive beddings or light the fragrance. However they can’t fully solve sleep problems. Let’s talk about the relevance of light and sleep, if you are having trouble of sleep.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland of our brain. If the concentration of melatonin is sufficient at night, it helps us sleep easily. If not, we might have trouble falling asleep. There is a large amount of blue light in the sun. Blue light can substantially reduce melatonin. Not enough sunlight to wake up naturally in the morning, makes the quality of sleep reduced at night. Natural light affects our physical and mental health, especially the elders and children. The ultraviolet rays in the sun can help children who are in the stage of physical development to synthesize calcium and strengthen their bones. For the elders who have the problem of bone loss, sun exposure can prevent osteoporosis. Avoid blue light if you want to sleep better during the night.
However modern life is full of technology, large amounts of blue light can cause insomnia, messy body clock and furthermore depression.
《American Journal of Epidemiology》pointed out a small amount of night light exposure is also related to symptoms of depression.
Kenji Obayashi, a professor in the Department of Community Hygiene and Epidemiology at Nara Medical University School of Medicine, Japan, conducted a study on sleep and environmental luminosity. They tested 863 Japanese elders and recorded their sleep data and psychological conditions to see how the night luminosity level affects sleep, especially depression-related symptoms. In the end, there were 73 people showed symptoms of depression. The result shows exposureing to light affects the biological clock at night and sleep in a completely dark environment helps both sleep quality and mental health. Professor Obayashi said: “Keeping the bedroom dark at night may be a new way to prevent depression.”
Although the subjects of this study were elders, professor Obayashi warns that this affects young people even more whose eyes are more sensitive and receive more light. In order to have a better sleep, avoid computer and phone screens that diffuse blue light before going to bed. Blue light keeps our brain awake and alert which will negatively affect your sleep quality.
Most people can’t completely put the screen aside but you can find the balance between technology and your health:
- Restrict or prohibit yourself from using the screen at certain times. Put away your digital device two hours before bed. Stop all of a sudden may be difficult, you can try 30-minute increments every time.
- Replace your leisure activities. Read, write or take a walk, any activity does not involve or rely on the screen.
- Add blue light filters to all devices.
Technology has been integrated into our life but it doesn’t mean they can dominate you. What we need is having a bit more perseverance. Plan a quiet and regular life everyday. Balance the screen usage and reduce exposure to blue light.
In addition, you can decorate your bedroom into a friendly environment for sleeping. Choosing blackout honeycomb blinds for the bedroom or match with a semi-translucent honeycomb blinds layer to filter part of outdoor light and still enjoy the sunshine waking you up. Alternatively, you could choose our Bonito Deco Smart honeycomb blinds. Open automatically in the morning, let you bathe in sunlight during the day and enjoy the darkness at night.
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