Street lighting can cause insomnia and mental disorders: what you need to know

Over the past decade, much of Europe and the United States have changed the way street lighting is covered.

Фото: Depositphotos

Local authorities from Paris to Brooklyn replaced high-energy sodium bulbs, giving warm, yellow lighting, energy-saving LED lamps (LED) with a blue LED, but this lighting is a danger to people's health, writes with the BBC.

In addition to streetlights, most of us are exposed to blue LED light via smartphones, computers, televisions, and home lighting.

Earlier this year, the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry published an article by a group of eminent psychiatrists that warned about the negative impact of LED lighting on people's mental health.

This caused concern about the effect of blue light on sleep and on the psyche of adolescents who actively use different devices and at the same time their psyche is more sensitive to the effects of LED lighting.

“My concerns about LED lighting stem from larger and earlier concerns about the relationship between light exposure and the onset of manic and mixed symptoms in bipolar disorder,” explained study author John Gottlieb, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“I clearly saw that additional exposure to light—in the form of bright light therapy—was extremely beneficial for patients with depression. What I did not immediately realize was that excessive and short-term lighting can have an adverse effect on the sleep-wake cycle and worsen manic states,” the scientist explained.

It was found that if a person was instructed to use a mobile application for self-monitoring and documenting mood changes, for example, and he writes to him at bedtime, this can adversely affect his sleep and health.

“Because they are ubiquitous, smartphones pose a major health threat. Light bulbs are also not safe and, along with the entire array of nighttime lighting for entertainment, traffic, reading, and so on, they contribute to the expansion of light pollution that we are increasingly dealing with,” Gottlieb said.

Studies of the effects of blue light on healthy adults show that it slows the secretion of melatonin, which disrupts sleep and can affect quality of life - physical and mental health and susceptibility to disease. Previous studies of sleep disturbances in children and adolescents demonstrate a clear and consistent association between sleep disturbances and frequency of digital device use.

Currently, the National Sleep Foundation management advises not to use gadgets 30 minutes before you go to bed, and also insists on removing LED devices from the bedroom.

However, there are currently no specific guidelines on coverage for people with mental illness.

LED technology is rapidly spreading around the world, because such lighting is energy efficient and visually appealing. Having learned about its harm, scientists and health professionals and the LED industry are working to minimize the level of blue light in LEDs and create lamps that do not harm those who suffer from mental disorders, and also do not spoil sleep to healthy people.

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