Slashdot Mirror
Can Blocking Blue Light Help Bipolar Disorder As Well as Sleep Issues? (sciencealert.com)
A new experiment suggests sleeping with amber-tinted glasses can reduce the manic symptoms of bipolar disorder within three days. Slashdot reader schwit1 quotes a report from Science Alert:
The benefits of amber-tinted glasses are that they block blue light -- a major component of sunlight and the light beamed at us from our computer and phone screens. In the mornings, it's this blue light that helps reset our body clock each day. But a growing body of evidence is linking too much blue-light exposure in the evenings to problems including insomnia, obesity, depression, and other mental illnesses.
I wonder how many Slashdot readers are already trying to improve their sleep patterns by avoiding exposure to blue light?
I wonder how many Slashdot readers are already trying to improve their sleep patterns by avoiding exposure to blue light?
at worst i'll read on my ipad or phone with the black screen on and have no problems going o sleep
...is mandatory for good sleep. Seriously.
Am I expected to give up my blue-light specials at KâMart in the evenings? I'm unwilling to budge on this issue.
Histamine is responsible for drowsiness, not melatonin.
How about selective exposure to a blue light source at the right time to minimize jet lag? But alas, with a test population of only 23 people, and what appears to be a subjective results analysis, this is all pretty meaningless discussion.
Seriously? Don't know about you but when I sleep my eyes are shut.
Does this also mean rose-tinted glasses can be used to treat depression?
Really do I need a red LED on my TV even when it is off?
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Many cities that have already installed LED street lights are getting complaints and are removing them. Kind of funny that LED bulbs which are supposed to save money and waste have had the opposite effect. Early adoption of new technology always has issues, there is no reason these problems can't be fixed in street lights as well as any other application involving an engineered light source.
The Blue LED a relatively new invention got really popular especially a decade ago. Having Blue LED Alarm Clocks, Blue LED indicators on electronics (as Green LED and Red LED are so old fashioned)
I had a Blue LED Alarm clock... And I really hated it. It did effect my sleep, because if in the middle of the night I wake up there is a blue glow that tricked me into thinking it was day time. I had sense went back to the boring Red LED clock where I can see the time, without feeling like I am glaring into the Sun at the middle of the night.
I am not sure about bipolar, but sleep issues with Blue LED do mess with me.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I'm a little dubious, on general principles. Plus my optometrist just suggested this new "blue-blocker" option for my glasses, it stops blue-laser light dead, a very impressive demonstration, but it paradoxically doesn't remove any blue from what you're looking at. Must be a very fine-tuned filter that just blocks one wavelength of blue. He talked on and on about the effects of blue light on sleep. Quite a hard-sell. And they want $140 for that option. Sounds like blue snake-oil to me.
OB xkcd, and OB PhD Comics.
Not long ago, we were all being told that illumination that mimics natural sunlight cures Seasonal Affective Disorder. Now we're being told it causes insomnia and bipolar disorder. If you look at the original article, the effect is tiny at best.
I'm guessing most of the Slashdot crowd already knows about f.lux, which I use on my PC's to (attempt to) reduce nighttime exposure to blue light. I don't know how well it does or doesn't work for me, but it helps just as a reminder to unplug an hour or two before my intended bedtime, if possible.
Practicing good sleep hygiene has tangibly improved my sleep and well-being over the past several years, though I noticed results within a week, once I learned and adopted good practices from my sleep doctor. Keeping the right ambient temperature (a surprisingly low 65-70 degrees for me), avoiding light exposure (completely blocked bedroom windows, taped over LED lights, removing all light sources but two red night-lights), getting a truly comfortable mattress, avoiding late meals/snacks/fluid intake, and (more challenging for couples) sleeping alone make the biggest differences for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
So, it is supposed to "reduce the manic symptoms of bipolar disorder." Instead of being depressed some of the time, now you can be depressed ALL the time.
Many people with this disorder decide that they'd rather have the highs where they can get a million things done and are more creative, than to be dull all the time.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
I wear 1.25X reading glasses that are tinted to block blue light. They're very helpful. Amazon B00O99Z97C
Wouldn't one expect sleep to be subject to extreme placebo effects? I wouldn't consider any "blue light" sleep study seriously unless double-blind. Hell, this "experiment" wasn't even single-blind. (Clear glasses vs amber glasses...)
It's quite easy, really.
Posted from my e-ink Kindle.
The 80's had a lot of things right.
Removing one's brain can also alleviate many unpleasant symptoms.
I had a daughter, and plugged in a pink night light....
Problems solved.
MORE PINK LIGHT!
Starting by reducing minimum brightness on our phones? Even at the minimum brightness setting, my phone still hurts my eyes at night. And it's getting worse at every phone generation. I now have to use a "blue light filter" to dim the brightness by 80-95% more. Oh, and a red-colored one. I don't know whether blue light is worse or not, but I am sure that red is better for night vision, and I like to be able to see my surroundings at night. Maybe manufacturers do this to show more accurate colors at a lower brightness setting; but I honestly don't really care about color fidelity in these cases. If that's the case, how about making some color correction profiles that are function of brightness? And lastly, I sometimes adjust brightness manually on my desktop monitor, but it's quite a pain to fiddle with the hardware buttons. Is is just for my old and cheap monitor, or has no manufacturer yet figured out how to put a light sensor/software brightness control in these $180+ monitors?
I tried out f.lux on my mac, and it was a real pain in the backside.It was more like something nagging me to get off the computer and go to bed and darkening the hell out of the screen eventually. Ugly yellow orange color to the screen as the nagging started I tried messing with the settings, but the best setting for the program is "off"
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
My Man Bono has known this for ages!
From what I heard from friends that are bipolar as well as pop books written on the subject (supplied by them in order to understand them better), the manic part is actually quite nice - you feel sharp and full of energy and creativity. Many a creative work has entered society from those heights. Of course, they also tend to make very bad (over-confident) life decisions in that stage... Which is why treatment is geared towards attenuating that stage (as well as the depressive stage, obviously) towards (very mundane and boring) middle ground. The manic stage has been compare to a high from a very addictive drug.
Fun fact: some disagree with the name "bipolar", which implies that the two poles are mutually exclusive. Some have experienced both stages at the same time.
Note: My lighthearted tone above should not be taken as disrespect about a very serious condition - quite the opposite: I hope that talking more openly about it may contribute to better understanding.
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
I don't sleep with them, I just don't keep anything that emits blue light in the room I sleep in. But if I need to be sure of getting a good night's sleep I'll put a pair of amber safety glasses on a few hours before I want to go to bed. It makes a noticeable difference. Google S1933X for cheap, optically OK amber tinted safety glasses which are dramatically opaque to far blue spectrum light. As a bonus when you put them on all those annoying super-bright blue LEDs simply disappear. You have to take the glasses off to see whether a blue LED is lit.
And if you feel like a dork wearing safety glasses around the house, just remind yourself this is brain hacking. I've contemplated trying EEG hedsets and TMS all that kind of stuff, but never have taken the plunge; but for $12 and being willing to look an ass you can actually alter the function of your brain to be more to your liking, which is kind of cool. Now I can unwind at the end of the day by watching Netflix -- after awhile your brain adjusts to the altered color temperature and in most cases you don't miss the bright blue. Instead of binge watching into the wee hours you'll get sleepy and go to bed at a reasonable time.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
too much blue light can trick your brain into thinking it's daytime. the result of this is it requires more time for your brain to enter sleep mode leading to reduced amount of sleep overall.
what about people with bipolar disorder? well, we already know that not getting enough sleep also results in increased emotional volatility in people with bipolar disorder.
so yes, blocking blue light can help people that have sleep issue but then again, sources of blue light are completely artificial, so you're doing it to yourself.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
iOS 9.3 or so and on suitably new hardware (iPhone 6 or newer, equivalent on the rest of the zoo) came with Night Mode that filters out blue wavelength emmision on the screen within the specified nightly interval. Start time, end time and the amount of filtering adjustable.
Of course, that did not prevent scads of iGadget users perennially on autopilot to start moaning & bitching about how their fancy-shmancy screens had gone yellow, the night after they had willy-nilly upgraded their iOS version without READING THE MANUAL FIRST.
The idiots at Chipote can't seem to figure out how make deliveries after 4am. Now the landscaper army has started their leaf blowers, noise, pollution, and dust everywhere what is not to love.
>> I wonder how many Slashdot readers are already trying to improve their sleep patterns by avoiding exposure to blue light?
I'm sure we all visit RedTube to counteract all the blue light. nudge, nudge, wink, wink
Or Wearing Blu Blockers.
https://justgetflux.com/
Turns down the blue at night then gets out of way during the day.
Works as advertised. Recommended.
Apple has finally caught up in iOS 9.3
http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/22/...
I've been way ahead of this curve in that I've avoided shopping at Kmart for decades...
...and someone who has the bad habit of using their laptop in bed: yes, it helps. It's a medically and scientifically established fact that blue light stops production of melatonin while triggering production of serotonin. I've used F.lux for 5-6 years now, and while it doesn't solve all of my problems it has made great differences in my ability to mentally and physically "wind down" before sleep.
"I wonder how many Slashdot readers are suffering from bipolar disorder", the article asks. "You are programming nerds, surely there is lots wrong with you."
Which, on the whole, is not a very nice thing to say to your loyal readers.
Over-the-counter tinted sunglasses are cheap.
Tinting prescription glasses adds tens of dollars to the cost of a pair of glasses every time you buy a new pair, plus the several-hundred-dollar one-time cost of buying a new pair when you would've kept your existing pair for a few more years but for the need for tinting.
The social stigma of wearing glasses associated with being mentally ill will vary from "no stigma, with comments of 'cool glasses dude'" to very strong, depending on the person's unique social environment. In most western cultures the stigma will be low to non-existent.
Compare with maintenance medications which can range from fairly cheap (off-patent drugs) to very expensive and which have side-effects ranging from none to severe, depending on the drug and the individual person.
Even if glasses don't eliminate the need for drugs and other non-drug therapies, if they can reduce the need for them this can be good for patients and, by lowering medical costs overall, good for society.
Plus, they look cool.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Apologies if what follows comes across as a rant. Thus is an extremely sore topic for me.
As someone with bipolar diagnosis (and an autistic spectrum disorder diagnised over a decade after the bipolar diagnosis), I can say from my experience that two different people with the same diagnostic label can have markedly different problems. What works is heavily dependent on what exactly is happing in the patient's life and mind, and upon what intellectual, social, family and other resources they have at their disposal.
The idea that you can treat all instances of a bipolar patient as sufficiently similar that a clinical trial of a treatment will yield useful, meaningful and reliable information as to what will help an arbitrary new patient with the same diagnosis is something for which I have yet to come across empirical support for (consider how different software can cause the same hardware to behave markedly differently, the futility of trying to fix serious software errors with simple hardware patches, and the foolishness of taking 1000 windows PCs which regularly blue screen, and conducting a double blind randomised controlled trial on treatments for PCs with 'compulsive blue screen disorder'). I am sorry to say, that to me psychiatric research is thus brain damaged in its basic methodologies.
The idea that chemical imbalances are a cause rather than a symptom is something yet to be justified, as is the idea that bipolar disorders can be understood at a biochemical level and remedied with chemicals with any degree of reliability. Then things like whether the person has a (possibly undiagnosed) autistic spectrum disorder or not are ignored (I have recently received an ASC diagnosis), and if not ignored, old trials are not revisited in the event that new diagnostic information has come to light regarding participants of old trials which would have affectee the trial and possibly the outcome. By comparison, if a physicist discovers a component in his exoerimental apparatus has a bias, he or she will not ignore the matter if it could significantly affect the conclusions of the experiment. The psychpharmalogical juggernaut just rolls on, turning mental health into a game of drug sales, cattle management, and explaining away all alternatives: behaviour reminiscent of hard sell marketing, not proper scientific inquiry.
As for blue light, at times when extremely sensitive, blue light can, due to extreme sensitivity, be confused with daylight, with consequences for how your brain tries to sync to daylight. In times of extreme sensitivity (which can be diagnosed as manic episodes, as can episodes of manic behaviour driven differently), it is like the gain on yout brain inputs is turned up too high, is saturated, distorting, and your brain then attempts to make sense of the distorted sensory input on the implicit assumption that it is free of distortion. That, at least, has been my experience in the past (once in hospital they used bright blue-tinted flashlights to see if we were in bed, for example, resulting in my being awoken so strongly when about to go to sleep that there was no possibility of sleep for a number of hours, and jobbing nursing staff often want their jobs to be as easy for themselves as possible, and care little if that has negative ramifications for the patients).
In addition, check out 'Deprived of our Humanity' by Lars Martensson (what he writes accords much with my experience), madinamerica, Joanna Moncrieff's books (myth of chemical cure, straight talking intro), Richard Bentall's books, Lucy Johnstone's books (straight talking intro), details of successful outcomes (beyond what is achieved with typical pharmacologically centred approaches) using alternative approaches (see e.g. Daniel Mackler's open dialog documentary, on youtube now).
Feynman had a wonderful couple of quotes in his Cargo Cult Science talk:
"But this long history of learning how to not fool ourselvesâ"of having utter scientific integrityâ"is, Iâ(TM)m sorry to say, something that we
John_Chalisque
I've only ever had problems sleeping when I don't exercise, I work hard so I'm usually ready to sleep even after not exercising for up to a year. Best quality sleep I've found is when I have that sore feeling after a workout, I love that feeling and sleep is deep.
I've got a recipe for sleep hygiene as well, it's pretty simple.
I don't know if there is any significant impact when the above is considered, however I avoid blue light. I usually on the computer up until 5 minutes before I sleep. By which stage there is very little that will keep me awake. When I train my wife tells me I am usually asleep within 30 seconds of putting my head on the pillow.
I will relate one other experience though. I've found that knots in your back may not be painful to the point that you are aware of them however they will keep you awake by simply making you uncomfortable. I posted here months ago about the extreme physiotherapy I have put myself through and part of resolving the scar tissue from sports injury meant I went through a period of several months where the knots in my back were so painful that they would wake me up at night and I could not sleep again. Fortunately those knots were also destroyed and it no longer affects me.
Just because you don't have current injuries doesn't mean the former ones, stress and emotional issues aren't affecting you in unexpected ways by manifesting physical issues (especially knots in the back). Losing sleep effects a degenerative feedback loop which can be broken by resolving the scar tissue from the injuries and the knotted muscles from stress and emotional issues. The physiotherapy may be confronting, however it's preferable to the frustration of nights without sleep and feeling like a zombie the next day.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
That's when creativity kicks in and bipolar people get to enjoy life.
It's the depression that's the main problem. Take away the mania, leaving only bad days, and suicide rates will increase.
I don't know about you guys, but I sleep in the dark, with my eyes closed.
which states (3.2 https://ec.europa.eu/energy/si...) : "a simple indication of the mode (e.g. a LED) is not considered as being a function. Therefore in "off-mode" as defined in the Regulation, a LED could be on." :)
So as it is not functional, clearly there can be no LED. The TV is therefore OFF
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
The hope that tomorrow will be "manic" is pretty much the only thing keeping me going through todays "depression". So these scientists can fuck right off.
And here I thought I couldn't like Holtzman any more than I already did...
at justgetflux.com.
If you're having trouble sleeping and using electronics, you're really just not suited for modern life, and your poor, miserable existence should end in death before procreation. That way we can weed out you weaklings who can't deal with the modern world and move on as a stronger species.
clearly just a shill for the blublockers sunglasses corporation.
lose != loose
As a Windows user, I spend most of my evening staring at a blue screen. So I guess maybe this is legit. It makes me depressed and manic at the same time usually.
Thanks, asshole. Like, I really needed that. If I ever find out who you are . . .
I'm sure I would find that very uncomfortable. However, in light (a pun?) of this information I've decided to sleep with my eyes closed, preferably in a dark room, in hope that the blue frequency will be blocked.
...omphaloskepsis often...
Birthrates for tech users is going down, not up. People like you are on the chopping block of natural selection, not us.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/amber-lamps
The summary says "new experiment [...] can reduce the manic symptoms of bipolar disorder ...".
I say No Way: that's the best part. OTOH the depression we can do without.
So much for saving money at K-Mart.
i am amazed by this. this can be life changing.
I have a blue nightlight....guess I should stop that...
https://youtu.be/csHptb8APlo?t=20s
F.Lux works for me, and it's free. https://justgetflux.com/
My eyelids have blue blockers built in.
Blue light around 460-480nm is blocking the biosynthesis of melatonin. Hence, for some, the sleep problems. The blue-blocking glasses help maintain the melatonin production.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#Regulation
.... Are the best damn sunglasses tech ever created!!! They were marketed to block blue light and help prevent cataracts . I've been wearing them off and on for 24 years. LOVE EM !!!
Consider that one of the reported side-effects of Viagra is blue tinted vision, and the goal here is to get more sleep. In that case yes, cutting down on the Viagra will help you get more sleep, and possibly cut down on the blue light!