Blue Light District

Sleepless in Cyberville

We are a culture of junkies. We will do anything to avoid silence, solitude, darkness, even if it means benumbing ourselves with dependency on noise, distractions and…disorienting, unwelcome infusions of light.

I love tent camping or going rural to my glamping RV-treehouse sitch upstate because here things that have blurred in contemporary times (like the boundaries between day and night, real and false) get rightfully re-sorted. I detox. When the sun goes down, like a farmer my eyelids get heavy and I have nothing else to do but go to bed. I might read a little by the battery-powered lamplight but the lamplight is pretty dim/waning, and the tiny woodstove in wintertime only fits so many little logs before the heat output dims too, so it’s best to just accept the quiet chilling blackness under covers. Which of course isn’t actually silent at all when you don’t have the white noise of bleeping screens, but full of room for the vespertine animals of the velvety night.

My phone is on airplane mode to conserve battery strength since I will need it eventually as a clock and a camera. Too bad I can’t just tell the time exactly (yet) by the angle of the rising sun and the twittering of the first morning birds, and take pictures only with my mind’s eye to better stamp into memory. Someday I hope to get better at this.

What ultimately happens is I have to return home, foodshop and shower, and any properly calibrated biological clock is again thrown off by the technological clutter of my homelife in this digital abyss. That damn blue light, good by day but so invasive by night, is really messing with everything. And we can’t seem to just put it to bed as its overgrown every space. There’s too much of it to ever contain, and far too caffeinated.

What is blue light and why is it hurting us so much?

In an article from Harvard Medical School, “Blue Light has a dark side,”

Not all colors of light have the same effect. Blue wavelengths—which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood—seem to be the most disruptive at night. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting, is increasing our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown.

Everyone has slightly different circadian rhythms, but the average length is 24 and one-quarter hours. The circadian rhythm of people who stay up late is slightly longer, while the rhythms of earlier birds fall short of 24 hours. Dr. Charles Czeisler of Harvard Medical School showed, in 1981, that daylight keeps a person’s internal clock aligned with the environment.

Exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Even dim light can interfere with a person’s circadian rhythm and melatonin secretion. A mere eight lux—a level of brightness exceeded by most table lamps and about twice that of a night light—has an effect. Light at night is part of the reason so many people don’t get enough sleep, and researchers have linked short sleep to increased risk for depression, as well as diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

If you love lots of charts to better explain this eyeball and lightwave stuff, this site is for you. From Eyesafe,

Blue light, also known as high-energy visible (HEV) light, is a color in the visible light spectrum that can be seen by human eyes. These wavelengths of visible and non-visible light are measured in nanometers (nm), and, in general, the shorter the wavelength, the higher the energy. Blue light is a short wavelength, which means it produces higher amounts of energy.

Our retinas can’t filter blue light, so more reaches this receptive back wall of nerve endings on the far side of our eyeballs.

Light wavelengths and an eyeball, image from Eyesafe

The highest source of blue light comes from most of our devices (where we likely spend far more of our time and in close proximity). Exposure to these things add up: mobile phone, computer screen, television, fluorescence.

How about LEDs? Turns out our attempt at efficiency churns out more blue light than incandescent bulbs.

What about these poor Generation Alphas (the ones I am considering the Lost Race because of our extreme experiments on their mental health)? Blue light is more damaging to kids than adults as they tend to hold their devices closer and have less filters.

Whereas daylight produces more of a smooth flow of the colors that peak with blue, LED light dramatically spikes with blue with the other colors notably lesser. While smaller amounts of blue light can be healthy (promoting alertness, boosting memory and cognitive function, elevating mood, regulating circadian rhythm), the elevated exposure that comes with our ever-increasing screen time lifestyles is concerning to say the least.

Many report experiencing digital eye strain (irritated eyes, blurry vision, headaches) while even more report sleep disruption (disturbed rhythm, waking in the night, reduced alertness by day, insomnia). Count me in for all the above, sadly, plus, this is new for me: dizziness, source unknown, but I have to think living night and day via computer must have something to do with this literal and very uncomfortable imbalance I suffer. All of this can amount to reduced productivity and reduced concentration. Stress and depression, the ultimate result of most things American take too far.

Let’s dig more into the nerdy weeds of some university studies since I’m here awake fretting about this:

Blue light gets the rep as most disruptive color of light as proven by this Harvard experiment, for one. Researchers compared 6.5 hours of blue light exposure to similarly bright green.

The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).

And another: University of Toronto researchers compared melatonin levels of those exposed to bright indoor light wearing block light-blocking goggles to those exposed to dim light without goggles.

The fact that the levels of the hormone were about the same in the two groups strengthens the hypothesis that blue light is a potent suppressor of melatonin. It also suggests that shift workers and night owls could perhaps protect themselves if they wore eyewear that blocks blue light.

General best practices to protect yourself from blue light and preserve the sanctity of your nights, again from Harvard:

• Use dim red lights for night lights. Red light is less likely to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.

• Avoid looking at bright screens beginning two to three hours before bed.

• If you work a night shift or use a lot of electronic devices at night, consider wearing blue-blocking glasses or installing an app that filters the blue/green wavelength at night.

• Expose yourself to lots of bright light during the day, which will boost your ability to sleep at night, as well as your mood and alertness during daylight.

Some more specific tips and products to reduce exposure from Eyesafe (which is also, by the way, selling some of this protective gear if you want to stockpile):

1. Eye Exam: Talk to an eye care professional about options about ways to protect your family and your eyes from blue light.

2. Screen Time: Try to decrease the amount of time spent in front of these screens.

3. Screen Protectors: Screen Protectors with advanced blue light filtration are available for smartphones, tablets, laptops and computer monitors.

4. Built-In Technology: Many laptops and monitors now have technology designed into the hardware, which helps reduce blue light emissions.

5. Follow the 20-20-20 Rule: For every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

6. Anti-Reflective Lenses: Anti-reflective lenses reduce glare and increase contrast and may also help reduce blue light from the sun and digital devices.

7. Use Device Software: Try setting your devices to night mode which adjusts the screen display to a warmer temperature, the downside is your screen will have a yellow or amber tint.

8. Computer Glasses: Computer glasses with yellow-tinted lenses often reduce blue and increase contrast, but similar to night mode software, the user has to compromise on color.

Have you invested in blue light glasses? Do they help?

Not just any glasses will do. Cheap sunglasses with an orange-tint can help block blue along with other colors you might want, so it might be best to invest in better blockers at a slightly higher price point. There’s orange (fine for daytime) and clear (for night) varieties on Amazon for a range of prices. They may save your sleep but also alleviate eye strain from computer work, migraines and headaches for those of us feeling like we live and die by our computers these days.

Is your computer killing you? Are you feeling cybersick? The topic inspired a whack short story I just completed for the new Tarry lit mag coming soon (in print edition only!) to my community. The character gets so nauseous from scrolling, swiping, typing—as it pays all the bills and feeds her slim social life—that she crashes into the limits of tolerance and finds herself instead ejected out…side. Tragically averse now to computers, she takes to walking, writing handwritten letters to penpals, swimming. Nevermind that she also crashes into dead people and ancient boats wherever she goes due to the density of ghosts of all sorts, but that’s the fun of getting offline in a place called Sleepy Hollow. Anything is possible!

I think sometimes, as with many matters in life, it’s important to step back and take charge. Claim agency. We are the ones who get to decide what amount of time our tech spends with us, not vice versa. (And by the way, parents, this means you are in charge of your kids too). Win back your eyes, your time, your children’s sanity, and your sleep by setting boundaries, exercising, reintroducing yourself into the daylight to see some normal-spectrum sunshine. We are still in control of these devices—for now.

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