Unhappy Holidays and Seasonal Affective Disorder

Douse Yourself in Light.
When you wake and want to pull the comforter over your head, flip on the light or throw open the curtains instead. Look into the light. Use the force. Getting light into your eyes. Try a winter light machine or broad spectrum bulbs in your lamps both at work and home to make up for lost UV rays from the sun. Sunlight gets your circadian rhythm on track, helping to manage cortisol (your stress and get-up-and-go hormone) and melatonin (a calm and sleep hormone).

Read more.

Comments: For those currently in the grip of an overly long winter, we recommend the 10 tips outlined in this article for ways to beat the winter blues.

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The key out-take is that we need to alternate full-spectrum and dim light at the right times (ie full-spectrum during daylight hours and dim light in the evening) in order for our circadian rhythm to allow us to sleep soundly at night.

Circadian rhythms and how to check yours

Jet Lag and Light

Why is circadian disruption relevant?

Why is Melatonin so important?

Do iPads Cause Insomnia?

And we weren’t the only ones who were writing about this subject. Our weekly round-ups had regular entries on the topic of sleep – whether it be how to get to sleep, how not to go to sleep and sometimes how to stay awake longer than you normally could.

How to wake up
33 Tips for Better Sleep
Increase your melatonin. Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night.

How not to fall asleep when you shouldn’t
How not to fall asleep at work
Working in an office with bad lighting could be sapping your energy. “Tests have found that full-spectrum lighting, which simulates daylight and promotes better vision – will boost your energy levels as well”

Some Tips for staying awake during the ashes « The Sleep Geek
Having full spectrum light bulbs in the room where you are watching the cricket will help to keep you awake during play – they mimic the sun and your body will assume that it’s daytime and therefore feel more awake. …

How to get to sleep
Sound Asleep Curtains Review
If you sleep at night, which most people do, try to get at least 30 minutes of full spectrum light during the day, especially first thing in the morning. This light will cue your body to induce sleep at night.

How sleep patterns change as you age
If you cannot obtain direct sunlight, try a full-spectrum light. – Keep a Regular Sleep Schedule – Try to go to bed and awaken at the same time each day. – Avoid Stimulants – Nicotine, caffeine, alcohol all act as stimulants that can …

Stress: Why is it bad, and how can we minimize it?
If your sleep cycle has become irregular due to your consistently bad sleep habits, simply reset it by exposing yourself to bright, full spectrum light in the morning, and minimizing exposure to light within two hours of desired bed …

How To Beat The Sleep Robbers
Day-Llight Therapy: Not the same thing as ordinary indoor lighting, exposure to the daylight spectrum of light does a better job than a caffeinated drink for relieving a drop in alertness, energy and mood during the midafternoon.

A Good Night’s Sleep: Essential for Health
Like with diet, there isn’t a “one size fits all”; however, if you are experiencing sleep difficulties, try a few of these easy inexpensive possibilities: 3 mg of the hormone melatonin about one half hour before bed; no television or computer work an hour before going to sleep; reading with a full spectrum light bulb; sleeping with eye shades if you can’t make your bedroom completely dark.

Nite, Nite, Sleep Tight – Holistic Health – Medicine Blog …
Avoid nightlights or overhead lights once you turn in. One article suggests keeping a flashlight (not LED) at bedside for trips to the WC or to let a pet out. Get enough natural light during the day either outdoors or with full- spectrum …

Sleep as a SAD symptom
Feeling S.A.D.? Follow these Tips to Beat the Winter Blues
If your room is dark and that is what makes you less active at home, then you can install full-spectrum light bulbs in every room of your home in order to mimic the sunshine. Full-spectrum high-quality beaming light is vital when there is a short supply of natural sunlight. It will help you to get a better sleep, mental clarity, improved concentration, good mood, plus a stronger immune system.

Ten Tips for Staying Healthy This Winter
Even a short stint out in the sun can help your mood, enhance your sleep, and help you feel like you don’t live in a cave. If you struggle with seasonal depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD) get a full spectrum light and spend some time in front of it. 

Health tips for January from Hazel Courteney
This is why we tend to feel more depressed and sleepy during the winter months. therefore, get out into the daylight as much as you possibly can, especially in the mornings, and if you work in an office without full spectrum lighting …

How to steer clear of Winter Blues
To counter this, you could increase the amount of full spectrum light you are exposed to with full spectrum light bulbs and/or a light box. It is reported that you will feel some relief from sleepiness and even premenstrual moodiness or …

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These rhythms are self-sustaining but set by external cues – the primary one being sunlight or the lack there-of.

The body rhythms our circadian clock set are numerous and include: when we are physically and mentally alert, along with our body temperature, blood pressure and various hormone secretions.

Source: Wikipedia

If you’ve ever wondered where your natural clock is set you can do this online quiz to get an idea of when you should be getting up and going to bed.

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Jet lag is caused when our body’s internal clock becomes out of sync with the time of our destination. This internal clock is set by the dark and light rhythms of our place of origin. And it is these light and dark patterns that trigger our melatonin production. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in darkness; secretion stops when there is light to the eyes.

It is melatonin that plays such a key role in the circadian rhythms which regulate various significant body functions – such as sleep, hunger, hormone regulation and body temperature. All the ways in which jet lag affects us – unable to sleep at night, tired during the day, and not being hungry at meal times.

Given that it is light that sets the pace for melatonin production, we can ease the effects of jet-lag by accentuating the rhythm of our destination. This can be done by getting access to bright light in the morning – preferably sunlight (or full-spectrum if that is unavailable) and dim light in the evenings. This use of light can bring our bodies into sync with our locations faster than just waiting for our bodies to catch-up.

Link to research.

British Airways has an online calculator to help you time your exposure to light and dark.

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The background notes to the meeting state:

Humans have evolved over millions of years and adapted to a solar day of approximately 12 hr of light and 12 hr of dark, latitude and season permitting. Our ability to artificially light the night began about 250,000 years ago when we discovered how to use fire. Candles were introduced about 5,000 years ago, and gas street lighting was possible beginning in the mid-1700s. However, only in the last 120 years has environmental illumination begun to change on a pervasive scale for the masses of people through the introduction of electric lighting.

 

One of the defining features of the built environment in the modern world is this artificial lighting. Electricity has made it possible to light the inside of large buildings and light the night for work, recreation, and security. The benefits of this lighting are obvious and enormous. It has become apparent, however, that although of obvious benefit, it may not be completely innocuous.

 

Light, including artificial light, can be potent in regulating human physiology and behavior and can therefore alter human physiology when inappropriately timed. One example of potential light-induced disruption is the effect of light on circadian organization, including the production of several hormone rhythms. Changes in light–dark exposure shift the timing of the circadian system such that internal rhythms can become desynchronized from both the external environment and internally with each other, impairing our ability to sleep and wake at the appropriate times and compromising metabolic processes. Light can also have direct acute effects on neuroendocrine systems, for example, in suppressing melatonin synthesis or elevating cortisol production that may have untoward long-term consequences.

The meeting concluded that maintenance of these circadian rhythms is important to health and well-being. And that the participants needed to focus on creating studies to advance our understanding of the impact of circadian disruption from lighting, and what then can be done to minimize or eliminate the adverse consequences for human health.

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The research also showed improvements in subjective measures of positive moods, work performance, fatigue in the evening, irritability, ability to concentrate and focus and eye strain. The workers also reported improved sleep at night.

The blue-enriched white light is thought to be more effective because it targets a recently discovered novel photoreceptor in the eye.

The research was conducted on 104 white-collar workers on two office floors. After baseline assessments under existing lighting conditions, every participant was exposed to two new lighting conditions, each lasting four weeks.

One consisted of blue-enriched white light (17 000 K) and the other of white light (4000 K). The order was balanced between the floors. Questionnaire and rating scales were used to assess alertness, mood, sleep quality, performance, mental effort, headache and eye strain, and mood throughout the eight-week intervention.

Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, who lead the experiment comments, “This research may indeed imply that our currently used artificial office lighting is suboptimal for maintaining alertness.”

The research was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health.

Author Information:

Viola AU, James LM, Schlangen LJM, Dijk D-J. Blue-enriched white light in the workplace improves self-reported alertness, performance and sleep quality. Scand J Work Environ Health 2008;34(4):297-306.

Full Abstract:

OBJECTIVES:
Specifications and standards for lighting installations in occupational settings are based on the spectral sensitivity of the classical visual system and do not take into account the recently discovered melanopsin-based, blue-light-sensitive photoreceptive system. The authors investigated the effects of exposure to blue-enriched white light during daytime workhours in an office setting.

METHODS:
The experiment was conducted on 104 white-collar workers on two office floors. After baseline assessments under existing lighting conditions, every participant was exposed to two new lighting conditions, each lasting 4 weeks. One consisted of blue-enriched white light (17 000 K) and the other of white light (4000 K). The order was balanced between the floors. Questionnaire and rating scales were used to assess alertness, mood, sleep quality, performance, mental effort, headache and eye strain, and mood throughout the 8-week intervention.

RESULTS:
Altogether 94 participants [mean age 36.4 (SD 10.2) years] were included in the analysis. Compared with white light (4000 K), blue-enriched white light (17 000 K) improved the subjective measures of alertness (P<0.0001), positive mood (P=0.0001), performance (P<0.0001), evening fatigue (P=0.0001), irritability (P=0.004), concentration (P<0.0001), and eye discomfort (P=0.002). Daytime sleepiness was reduced (P=0.0001), and the quality of subjective nocturnal sleep (P=0.016) was improved under blue-enriched white light. When the participants’ expectation about the effect of the light treatments was entered into the analysis as a covariate, significant effects persisted for performance, alertness, evening fatigue, irritability, difficulty focusing, concentrating, and blurred vision.

CONCLUSIONS:
Exposure to blue-enriched white light during daytime workhours improves subjective alertness, performance, and evening fatigue.

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