This is why you are struggling to fall asleep at night.

[Bobby_2021]

BLUE LIGHT.

That's it. Exposure to blue light is the only reason why you struggle to fall asleep at night. We all have probably heard this but we underestimate the degree to which it affects our sleep timings and sleep quality. And lack of proper sleep leads to a myriad of health problems like stress, fatigue throughout the day and even cardio vascular disease. You would also need to eat more food to stay awake, when you had poor sleep.

I have restricted by blue light exposure from 6 pm onwards and my sleep quality have never been so high.

So let's get to the root of the problem. What is the single biggest source of blue light? It's LEDs.

Namely two sources.

1) LED lights.

2) Phone/Television screens.

If you want good sleep, do not use these things after 6 in the evening. The LED lights are too bright. It will easily disrupt the circadian rhythm and supress the release of melatonin which relaxes your body and makes it fall asleep.

Phone screens do not emit nearly as much blue light as led lights used for lighting rooms. If you cannot avoid them completely, then use them at low brightness and turn on the blue light filter. I work till 10 pm and still fall asleep immediately when I get to bed. So that should not be too much of a problem falling asleep. That could still disrupt the sleep quality in my observation. So it is advisable to completely avoid blue light past 6 pm if you want to sleep well. Following this has done wonders for my sleep quality and is a great improvement to my life in general. 

 

[Schizophonia]

This is only true for mild sleep problems.

[ZenAlex]

The only reason eh?

[Michael569]

3 hours ago, Bobby_2021 said:

is the only reason why you struggle to fall asleep

right....and people who are medically diagnosed with insomnia caused by structural macro changes in the brain and amygdala hypertrophy from PTSD or years of childhood trauma, those with depression, anxieties or those with traumatic head injury that damaged pineal gland are all just scrolling too much reels in the evening and that's why they can't sleep. Good to know !!!

Edited June 26, 2023 by Michael569

[Bobby_2021]

Just chill my guy. You should not be looking on the internet forum for solutions in case you have a serious medical condition that is ruining your sleep. 

I am not going to dilute the importance of my message with 12 different warnings and disclaimers. I know all that. 

[Michael569]

^ shouldn't overuse the words such as "the only reason" where it clearly isn't that not by far. I'm chill my dude

[Rigel]

In my experience working hard during the day, both physically and mentally, has way more of an impact. 

[Bobby_2021]

2 hours ago, Michael569 said:

^ shouldn't overuse the words such as "the only reason" where it clearly isn't that not by far. I'm chill my dude

It's not that obvious. Blue light has absolutely permeated our nigh life where it should have been dark. This is just near constant disruption of the circadian rhythm with leads to all those medical problems that you talk about.

Blue light exposure can lead to medical problems. Our bodies aren't meant to be exposed to them at night. 

2 hours ago, Rigel said:

In my experience working hard during the day, both physically and mentally, has way more of an impact. 

Yes. Because you are working in the sun. That sets the circadian rhythm correct. Your body knows that it should shut down within a few hours and it will. It can even offset the negative effects of blue light exposure in the night.

But sedentary lifestyle is the norm these days. So more people should be aware of the effects of blue light.

This is far more serious that we thought. 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Bobby_2021

[Arthogaan]

Caffeine.

[Michael569]

1 hour ago, Bobby_2021 said:

It's not that obvious. Blue light has absolutely permeated our nigh life where it should have been dark. This is just near constant disruption of the circadian rhythm with leads to all those medical problems that you talk about.

I agree with everything you wrote except that last bit. Sometimes you can trace the causes of people's sleep problems much further and those are harder to fix. Removing all electronics 4 hours before bedtime for those people does nothing because those issues are driven from a deeper place and need a different approach.

But yah in general, blue light is a big one. For me, it messes up my sleep really bad. My girlfriend is completely unaffected on the other hand and can go ZZZ after 3 hours of late evening exposure with no problems. 

Late coffee is another one, lot of people don't realise any caffeine taken in the afternoon could be in your system still at midnight and for those particularly sensitive or those with slowed-down hepatic detoxification of caffeine, it could be the reason. 

All I'm saying there is much more there but on the pie chart of sleep problems, blue light would probably take at leasy 30-40% of cases. 

[Bobby_2021]

On 27/6/2023 at 7:24 PM, Michael569 said:

Late coffee is another one, lot of people don't realise any caffeine taken in the afternoon could be in your system still at midnight and for those particularly sensitive or those with slowed-down hepatic detoxification of caffeine, it could be the reason. 

Caffeine does absolutely nothing for me. Given that I tamed my blue light exposure I can sleep like a baby even after a heavy coffee before bed. For me blue light is solely the villain. Interesting case for your gf though. Even though she managed to fall asleep even after blue light exposure, the quality of sleep definitely will get affected. Maybe monitor the deep sleep timings and you may find something.

On 27/6/2023 at 7:24 PM, Michael569 said:

All I'm saying there is much more there but on the pie chart of sleep problems, blue light would probably take at leasy 30-40% of cases. 

We can agree to disagree. 

[integral]

From personal experience its half the time neuroticism + anxiety and the other half its a overflow of ideas and insight addiction.

Even so I got red shift on all my devices and home lights. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by integral

[The0Self]

Lmao tell that to an individual suffering from low endorphins due to opioid use. Of course that’s a temporary scenario that heals quick, especially with intense exercise, but still. Tons of things can reduce sleep. And some people have no issue falling asleep even with tons of blue light — it will likely negatively affect their sleep quality, but for many people blue light is not at the top of the list of things that negatively affect their sleep, even if it is high on the list.

Edited July 5, 2023 by The0Self