# Should you not look at blue lights at night?



## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

Hey guys,

Wanted to point out this article about looking at blue light being harmful for your health and sleep.

Blue Lights at Night Make are Bad

Anyways, I found a great program (mentioned in the article) that will adjust your computer at night. I puts out more orange light to tone down the blues. It looks really weird during the day, but at night it looks normals.

It is called f.lux


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## Bloat (Jan 24, 2014)

Yeah blue light is emitted by the sun, and our circadian rhythm is tied to sunlight. 

I could be wrong.


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## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

I think it has to do with the blue sky.

Nothing in nature is blue (okay somethings but they are rare like bluebonnets). 

We evolved not seeing blue at night.


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## MrKappa (Mar 18, 2013)

Interesting, they say myopia is a new health trend. Studies claim it has to do with a variety of other factors, so this may in fact be entirely irrelevant, but interesting none the less.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia#Epidemiology


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## HollaFlower (Jan 24, 2014)

Nice I've always used flux. It's weird at first but you get used to it. It's great for people that use their laptop in their beds. Because when doing so, the action associates your bed with being awake and alert. What flux does, is it changes the brightness/color emitted attuned to the time zone you live in, it's very subtle. 

Also speaking of blue light, Japan has spent about $150k installing blue lights on platforms at subway and train stations. All to prevent suicide since studies there have shown that the coupling days before a suicide takes place is one of dark gloomy weather. Probably the same theory/study that blue light keeps you alert.


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## Jib (Feb 1, 2014)

Blue light specifically suppresses the pineal gland's secretion of melatonin. I've had excellent results avoiding blue light at night.

Great Sleep, Reduced Cancer by Richard Hansler is a good book on this topic.

Chris Kesser wrote a good article here:

http://chriskresser.com/how-artificial-light-is-wrecking-your-sleep-and-what-to-do-about-it

I use only amber lighting at night. I have an amber LED flashlight, an amber nightlight in the bathroom, and an amber LED bulb, all of which I got from lowbluelights.com. The flashlight attaches to a 9V battery and is very convenient for use at night if I have to get up for anything.

With the computer or regular lighting, I like wearing blue-blocking glasses. The ones I got were about 8 bucks on Amazon with free shipping. Uvex Skyper Safety Glasses, the same ones Kesser recommends in that article.

In addition to avoiding blue light at night, in the morning I've been using a Litebook Elite as well as a 250W clear heat lamp bulb that I mounted in a 10.5" metal brooding lamp (with a ceramic light socket rated up to 300W - very important).

The winters where I live are very cold and very dark and having these light sources in the morning helps a lot. I also use the 250W heat lamp for general lighting and that works very well. Especially since it's pitch black around 4:30PM-5:00PM in the winter here; keeping the bright light on until 7:30-8:00PM or so keeps it closer to the light patterns in August.

http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2011/09/30/light-is-right/

^^ That also has plenty of good information about light.

I still struggle with nighttime anxiety, but I'm convinced from my own experiences that insomnia has a *lot* to do with light exposure (bright light in the morning and day and low blue light at night seems to be the most appropriate), as well as hormones (e.g., high cortisol at night -- one reason why eating something like ice cream before bed can improve sleepiness and sleep quality -- salt, sugar and some saturated fat help to lower stress hormones, keeping in mind that the body resorts to adaptive stress hormones when adequate energy isn't available, so it has to resort to adrenaline/cortisol to liberate stored glycogen from the liver and also break down body tissues to convert them into glucose to use for energy).

But yeah. The light thing is very important. Any time anyone tells me they're struggling with insomnia I mention the blue-blocking glasses and f.lux.

f.lux also recently added a "Darkroom Mode" which works even better. Makes me feel weird when I use it though XD


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## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

I find amber light at night (I use those rock salt things they sell at the mall) make for a perfect ambiance when showing at night to my voiceless smooth jazz music. Perfect for going to bed with too.


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## Curmudgeon64 (Dec 5, 2003)

Thanks, metomeya! This light feels much less 'abrasive' than the standard.http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/members/metomeya-213113/


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## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

No problem. Glad it helped somebody.

I swear those are the perfect night lights.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't care.


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## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

then why did you leave a message? lol :roll


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

metomeya said:


> then why did you leave a message? lol :roll


 Because it was easy.


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## metomeya (May 29, 2013)

:wife


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## Higgins (Apr 19, 2012)

I've been using f.lux for a long time now and computer screens definitely hurt my eyes a lot less at night. Never knew there was a significant reason why, but now I do.


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## SummerDan (Nov 26, 2014)

Blue light has a tight association with your sleep. Blue light is crucial for our human being during daytime. However, it can cause large damage during nighttime. Actually, receive too much blue light can wreck your sleep at large. Further, it can hurt our body health. Get more here: http://www.taimeopt.com/blue-light-affecting-sleep/


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

SummerDan said:


> Blue light has a tight association with your sleep. Blue light is crucial for our human being during daytime. However, it can cause large damage during nighttime. Actually, receive too much blue light can wreck your sleep at large. Further, it can hurt our body health. Get more here: http://www.taimeopt.com/blue-light-affecting-sleep/


 BS. I pretty much look at this blue forum for hours every day and I still sleep like a baby. Also, I have my monitor set for a slightly stronger than normal blue bias.


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## Dilweedle (Oct 17, 2013)

Well that sucks, my walls are blue and I sleep with a blue nightlight.


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## SummerDan (Nov 26, 2014)

WillYouStopDave said:


> BS. I pretty much look at this blue forum for hours every day and I still sleep like a baby. Also, I have my monitor set for a slightly stronger than normal blue bias.


:yes Thus, you are lucky. I know so many people suffer from weak sleep. I am also trying to improve my sleep.


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## Robot the Human (Aug 20, 2010)

The blue headlights coming at me seems so obnoxious at night. I have enough trouble seeing during the night while driving in unfamiliar areas. Those stupid blue lights don't even register as a car coming toward me sometimes which is a bit scary. I'd rather adjust my headlights a little too high, than to have those blue lights. Most people probably aren't as sensitive to light as I am, but blue lights are definitely bad news for me.

This f.lux thing sounds amazing. I need all the help I can get as far as sleeping. I'm giving this thing a shot, and already it feels like a ton of bricks lifted from my eyeballs. I hope it will improve my performance a bit when I play this particular game, where it's sometimes hard to find my mouse cursor immediately.


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## Lunar Delta (Oct 18, 2014)

f.lux sure is difficult to use if you have color-calibration software installed. The software is constantly trying to override f.lux's settings. I am reluctant to turn it off because the calibration affects a lot more than color. It also optimizes my monitor's black levels, contrast, brightness and other things. There should be a way to make them stop fighting.


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