If Darkness Causes Stess, How Should You Set Your Bedroom Light While Asleep?

yerrag

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In Aging Eyes, Infant Eyes, and Excitable Tissues , Ray says:

Melatonin and prolactin are induced by stress, and darkness is a stress because it impairs mitochondrial energy production.

If darkness is a stress, would leaving lights on be less stressful then while asleep? If so, what kind of light is best? Is red light best?
 

schultz

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Here are my assumptions on the topic:

Darkness is mainly a stress when we are awake.

Sleep is one way we deal with the stress.

Since we need to sleep 8 hours+ without eating, it's best to sleep in the dark so that we can sleep as deeply as possible and the metabolism is not too stimulated.

I'm open to being wrong :woot:
 
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yerrag

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I hope you're not wrong. :)
 
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yerrag

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mujuro

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I find red light for too long has an overstimulating effect. I have no other way to describe it.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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I find red light for too long has an overstimulating effect. I have no other way to describe it.
Thanks. I sleep with the orange light of a salt lamp. I've been doing that for a long time, but I don't know if I'm being helped by it though.
 

tankasnowgod

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Thanks. I sleep with the orange light of a salt lamp. I've been doing that for a long time, but I don't know if I'm being helped by it though.

I think red, infrared, orange, yellow, and even green, are fine when you sleep, as long as they're not exceptionally bright. Salt lamp seems like it would be quite nice, actually.

I really don't know what kind of effect (if any) those lights have for reducing stress.

From personal experience, it's only blue light (and the bright white lights that put off a lot of blue) that disturb sleep. In my current and previous apartments, I had no issues sleeping when the light just outside was incandescent. As soon as those lights got switched to the new "low energy" (which I think was LED in both cases), I needed to put up blackout shades. Previously, a fair amount of light entered my bedroom, and I didn't bother with the shades.

I remember sleeping on a couch once that had a blue DVR indicator that kept on waking me up. Turning off that light fixed the issue.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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Funny how in the past I read about blue light being good for sleep, and followed it. I really thought I was getting good sleep though. Perhaps it was all in the mind. I'm glad it didn't do any long=term damage, although the last thing a crazed person would admit to is that he's crazy.

I'm glad now that the record's been set straight. Previously, there was no internet and you could base your life's health decisions on books, and there was no way to tell if the book's a keeper or for the garbage. I once even thought books can't lie. Ha! Such naivete and gullibility.

It's funny how people's attitudes are towards light and color. I like the cozy warm white lighting at home, and when I was in the United States I was glad most homes are that way. Back home now, I would get flak for my choice of lighting. Many people here in the Philippines prefer daylight white or even cool white, which is even more bluish. However, even when there are longer days in the tropics, people here also prefer brightly lit rooms painted in light colors. The dark tones of wood would eventually be painted over by white paint. It contrasts very much with the wooden feel of American homes, which generally is more subdued. I don't know if Peaty households would prefer brightly lit rooms though. It may make their homes less depressing during the dark winter months.

What about lighting in hospital rooms? They're all white and if you leave a light on, it would most certainly be bluish and interfere with your sleep.
 

magnesiumania

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What a load of absolute bull****. Darkness induce stress? Thats the funnies thing i ever heard.
 
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yerrag

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Luckytype

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What a load of absolute bull****. Darkness induce stress? Thats the funnies thing i ever heard.
Its not stress as in emotional stress. Its a RELATIVE physiological stress from throwing off things like circadian rhythm which is the sleep wake cycle and influenced by regularity of daylight
 

tankasnowgod

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What a load of absolute bull****. Darkness induce stress? Thats the funnies thing i ever heard.

Apparently, you've also never heard of "Seasonal Affective Disorder," or light therapy lamps.

Light (or lack of it) is also tied in with suicide rates. For the whole year, Seattle has the highest rate of suicide in the US, and gets the least amount of sun overall, due to the constant rainy weather. However, Seattle is beat out by Alaska in the dead of winter, where they have 22-23 hours of complete darkness, and the sun barely rises or shines in the hours it is up.
 

tankasnowgod

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Funny how in the past I read about blue light being good for sleep, and followed it. I really thought I was getting good sleep though. Perhaps it was all in the mind. I'm glad it didn't do any long=term damage, although the last thing a crazed person would admit to is that he's crazy.

I realize this comment is over a year and a half old but...... blue light can supposedly be good for sleep if used early in the morning. A high dose of blue light early (or really bright light, like from the sun) is what supposedly makes you more awake and alert. So it can theoretically help, but not directly at bedtime.

Ever been out in the sun all day (like at the beach) and then go home to sleep like a rock that night? That's the concept.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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I realize this comment is over a year and a half old but...... blue light can supposedly be good for sleep if used early in the morning. A high dose of blue light early (or really bright light, like from the sun) is what supposedly makes you more awake and alert. So it can theoretically help, but not directly at bedtime.

Ever been out in the sun all day (like at the beach) and then go home to sleep like a rock that night? That's the concept.
Might make sense. The blue hour before dawn probably helps to ease us into waking up.
 

lampofred

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I have red light pointing just at my legs when I'm asleep.
 

redsun

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I read the strangest things on here. Even when I read Ray Peat's words on darkness and its effects on human health, I could not take it seriously. Not because its not true that there are hormonal changes and can cause issues if you are unhealthy or are not prepared properly for sleep, but because this kind of language can create stress/anxiety over something that is supposed to be a natural part of being human.

Saying darkness causes stress is ludicrous because Peat's underlying principle beliefs is that anything that reduces energy production is stress. In that case we should try sleep with very bright sunlight-mimicking lights beaming down on us right? Come on now.

Humans have lived in many areas of the world each with its own levels of sunlight which even changed seasonally to almost none at all(like Europe especially North Europe). We are not at the mercy of the sun, though we need some our health isnt disabled without it. We dont need to force ourselves to sit in the beaming sun for the sake of health. Its not necessary or should it be obsessed over.

I honestly think fear of the dark or having issues with sleep/darkness can be also psychological thing. If you have fear/anxiety based off darkness or sleep(through poor sleep experience) then you can become very stressed at night no doubt. Children often fear the dark, this is something that we are supposed to outgrow and conquer. If you are avoiding complete darkness when sleeping that can be a manifestation over the fear of your shadow self. Not everything is purely related to the physical body, the psyche plays a serious role in this.
 

Hugh Johnson

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I read the strangest things on here. Even when I read Ray Peat's words on darkness and its effects on human health, I could not take it seriously. Not because its not true that there are hormonal changes and can cause issues if you are unhealthy or are not prepared properly for sleep, but because this kind of language can create stress/anxiety over something that is supposed to be a natural part of being human.

Saying darkness causes stress is ludicrous because Peat's underlying principle beliefs is that anything that reduces energy production is stress. In that case we should try sleep with very bright sunlight-mimicking lights beaming down on us right? Come on now.

Humans have lived in many areas of the world each with its own levels of sunlight which even changed seasonally to almost none at all(like Europe especially North Europe). We are not at the mercy of the sun, though we need some our health isnt disabled without it. We dont need to force ourselves to sit in the beaming sun for the sake of health. Its not necessary or should it be obsessed over.

I honestly think fear of the dark or having issues with sleep/darkness can be also psychological thing. If you have fear/anxiety based off darkness or sleep(through poor sleep experience) then you can become very stressed at night no doubt. Children often fear the dark, this is something that we are supposed to outgrow and conquer. If you are avoiding complete darkness when sleeping that can be a manifestation over the fear of your shadow self. Not everything is purely related to the physical body, the psyche plays a serious role in this.
The far North also has high PUFA in plants and a lot of animals. Just because it is "natural" does not mean it is nowhere near optimal.
 

Cirion

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So you feel optimal both in winter and in summer? A serious question. If so I'm truly envious.

For me, how I feel on during this chronically cloudy winter (Going on over 2 weeks straight of cloudy) is super depressing, is proof enough to me that the sun is necessary for good health and I plan to take one or two week long vacations this year to somewhere warm and sunny & has a beach to help reclaim my health.
 

magnesiumania

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Apparently, you've also never heard of "Seasonal Affective Disorder," or light therapy lamps.

Light (or lack of it) is also tied in with suicide rates. For the whole year, Seattle has the highest rate of suicide in the US, and gets the least amount of sun overall, due to the constant rainy weather. However, Seattle is beat out by Alaska in the dead of winter, where they have 22-23 hours of complete darkness, and the sun barely rises or shines in the hours it is up.

Apparantly toatlly out of context, i though he was speaking of darkness when you go to sleep.
 

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