Sunlight

Hi, I'm a new member. I thought I had insomnia. I just couldn't get to sleep and was awake many nights sometimes until 4:00 a.m. This usually happened when during the daytime I was not exposed to sunlight, the long dark days of winter. Then the insomnia went away on sunny days. So I put two and two together and began to realize my sleeplessness had something to do with not getting any sunlight exposure in the morning. So I concluded that I had SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Yet, I am not a depressed person, far from it! I went out an bought a sun light to put on my desk. I look into it for a few minutes in the morning on cloudy days and even in the afternoons on those days. I think it's working for me. Anyone else here using this type of light? 😴

[Mac197]

It's not SAD, your circadian rhythm needs early morning light to reset for the day and for hormones to be queued to release at the correct part of the day. Also 30 minutes outdoors during the day helps quite a bit. Both of these are important especially as we age but, there are other healthy sleep habits that reinforce our biological sleep.

[Hidden in reply to Mac197]

Hi Mac197, Yes, I agree. Don't understand why they call it SAD. I am not unhappy, just not able to fall asleep lately unless I get some morning sunlight on my face. Seems to work like magic and am able to sleep through the night when I get that sunlight exposure. If I miss out then I use my little sunlight lamp, which I keep on my desk. This works well too and seems to set my circadian rhythm on cloudy days. 🌞 Thanks for the reply.