Take Light, Not Drugs: On Light Therapy | Hacker News Reader

Take Light, Not Drugs: On Light Therapy

nautil.us

54 pointsPhithagoras26 comments

Light therapy has been huge for my mental and physical health. Research lead me to purchase a light alarm clock [1] years ago. Light early in the morning has made a noticeable effect on my ability to go to sleep at night by simulating serotonin [2] In the evening we have our Lifx bulbs set to mimic sunset color and the morning mimic sunrise transition to bright white wake up hue.

1. http://www.biobrite.com/category/light-therapy/ 2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry...

I purchased my Philipps Hue system kinda impulsively (and somewhat drunkenly) because I was interested in the colors and the automation.

I thought it was 'nice to have'. But I underestimated the overall effect it has in my mood and my schedule. Previously I didn't know what to think about scientific claims in regards to the influence of light on mood, but now that I'm experiencing it first hand I can say it does have a significant effect on me.

It helps me structure my day, fall asleep, wake up, setting ambiances to read, relax or to be creative. Yes, I could have saved up money by trying to go the DIY route with Arduino, but I'm not very good at hardware. It's not a gadget that is collecting dust, it's something that bathes -for lack of a better word- my whole indoor environment every day. It's cool.

So true, something that works out of the box is worth it. I did the kickstarter for the Lifx on a whim as well. Dim lights are money for getting the kids to go the you-know to sleep too.

What types of Hue light schemes do you find most helpful?

I confirmed that the official app does not give the optimum experience. I experimented with Disco Hue and Hue Pro.

Hue Pro is good, and straight forward. I like the 'energize' and 'concentrate' settings, basically bright yellows. At night, I like to set 'deep blue', I find it relaxing. The warm colors are really cool, the oranges, reds and purples. It can really set the ambiance for making out with your partner, if that's your thing, LOL.

I schedule the 'energize' setting at 7 a.m., and this kinda forces me to wake up :p. I like scheduling on/off times to help me structure my day, because honestly I tend to be late.

One thing I like about Hue Pro is that there is an option with 'X' 'Y' sliders that allows you to select different colors than the RGB approach.

The author of [2] has a great blog:

http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the direct source. Book marked

Anecdotally, I've got this set up as well, and it hasn't really helped me at all |:(

Do you do the bright in the morning and dim at night? I've found I need both plus a daylight lamp in my office.

Yeah, bright mostly blue-white in the morning. I also work by a window, and at night move to shades of dark red.

I've actually been looking at light alarm clocks recently, anybody have one they would recommend? The Philips wake up light looks nice, but there isn't an option to dim the clock display so it's actually always on.

I use an earlier model of essentially this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYG3OWK

The flexible head makes a world of difference compared to the flourescent-panel-on-a-stand designs, and it has better UX as an alarm clock than most dedicated alarm clocks. The clock display can be turned on and off, and the main light can be dimmed.

They might have added features but mine's still working after 8 years so I have no reason to try a newer model.

We have one of these and the lowest setting is completely unobtrusive. I'd highly recommend it (plus make your bedroom device free). That should transform your sleeping habits.

As us Alaskan's can attest, light can have a huge impact on general mood. Many of us suffer from "Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)", and purchase lights to combat it's effects.

This is the first I've heard of light being used as a more widespread treatment option. Very interesting.

Light influences the body via the Suprachiasmatic nucleus [0] a tiny center that sits between your eyes.

This center basically regulates the circadian circle and plays a big role in the transformation of serotonine to melatonine, which makes you go from stress to sleepy.

Artificial light interferes with that.

I think it would be a kind of holy grail for psychopharmacology if you could somehow control this center via light impulses (or implanted LEDS :) ). You could calm anxious patients for example.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprachiasmatic_nucleus

Some take this a step further and gaze at the sun. It's called "sun-gazing" and the proponents are thoroughly convinced of its effects. One man, Hira Manek, says he lives off sun-gazing. Some say it has cured their vision.

The basic idea is that you gaze at the sun for ~10 seconds the first day, then up another 10 seconds next day, and so on... you eventually grow upwards to 40m.

Having tried it a few times, I would attest to its beneficence, but don't expect any serious scientific study backing it. It's very, very new-age. Also, don't go blaming me if you hurt your eyes. Do your research on it.

Stare at the sun to cure your vision. Uh huh...

Such a blight needs to be eradicated. Why is there still no cure for vision??

I share your skepticism, but this is what people are saying.

Which people. Science has known that starting at the sun is bad for your eyes for a long time, in case for some reason it wasn't obvious. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1842517

Interesting.

Anecdotal evidence to the contrary - i have a sunshine-bright light fixture at home (600W worth of metal halide arc lamps), and while it does make the dull winter days less dark and gray, it also tend to make me tire quicker.

It's the same sort of feeling you get when you haven't slept in a while after having slept too much - your brain still feel fine, but your eyes are already tired (and yes, i checked the lamps for a lack of UV).

Perhaps it is a question of a dose...

I would not say my sunshine light makes me tire quicker. I would say that the dim light of my house--lit through shades and by computer monitors--breaks my circadian rhythm, suppresses my natural "tired" signals, and keeps me up later than I should be.

What sort of lamps do you have? Metal halide colour temperatures vary enormously --- from sunlight at about 6000K way down to about 3000K. That'll be way redder than real daylight, and may not have the right effect.

4200K - nice sunset/sunrise kind of light.

And yeah, from what i heard it's the blue light that have the most effect in light therapy.

While it's not typical, some people do get their SAD episodes in summer, which suggests that more light isn't always better.

With optogenetics you could do both!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com