It may not be surprising to learn that sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand. Poor sleep is a common symptom of depression. However, not everyone knows that this lack of sleep and the ensuing depression may be a result of the blue light emitting from the multitude of screens in your home. These devices could be the main culprit when it comes to lack of sleep, and thus, depression.

While bullying has received media attention and has lead to research and improved  resources, another more surreptitious depression culprit has gone undetected: the near constant use of screen media by adolescents at night, aka “blue light-at-night.”

Clinical depression is a mood disorder that causes you to feel exhausted, worthless and hopeless. When you feel sad for long periods of time and the feelings affect your daily life, this is a major sign you may be suffering from clinical depression. Although there are many potential causes for depression, a lesser known one is sleep deprivation as a direct result of too much exposure to artificial sources of blue (and green) light.

How Your Sleep Effects Your Mood

Sleep is a restorative and vital part of our lives, so when this restoration is disrupted, it can lead to:

• Irritability
• Decreased energy levels
• Poor motivation and feeling down
• Less enthusiasm about things
• Less inclination to be social
• A warped perception of reality
• Increased sensitivity to other people’s words and actions
• Difficulty processing and coping with emotions

Blue Lights and Blue Moods: A Modern Struggle

While there are many reasons you may not be getting adequate sleep, let’s just assume for our purposes that you are well-intentioned to get 8 hours of sleep. If despite your best efforts to go to bed and wake up in a timely manner you are still suffering from a lack of sleep you may have a sleep disorder. There are two basic categories of sleep disorders: those that are intrinsic (built-in) and those that are extrinsic (circumstantial).

Intrinsic disorders are when your body’s clock is substantially off from the rest of societies. It can either be that you go to sleep and get up later or earlier than usual, or that for whatever reason your sleep cycle is severely fragmented.

Extrinsic disorders happen when your circadian rhythm is in sync with typical light/darkness patterns but due to a job, school or travel demands your clock has been disrupted.

Whether you suffer from an intrinsic or extrinsic disorder, adjusting exposure to daylight by minimizing your exposure to electronics that mimic daylight (laptops, TV’s, cell phones, game consoles, etc.) is key.

This may seem frustrating for those who like to wind down for sleep by scrolling through social media or watching a movie. Without adequately protecting your eyes from blue and green light, this nightly screen time will greatly impact your ability to fall asleep. At night, blue and green light has the power to confuse your brain into thinking it is daytime and suppressing the sleep-friendly hormone melatonin.

Recent studies have found that both blue and green light is detrimental to sleep, and this new research has to be addressed. Blocking harmful light in the hours before sleep is the top priority

Sleep Savior Eyewear

In today’s world of constant gadget use, our brains are receiving mixed signals and our mental health is taking a hit. If you are wondering what you can do to improve your emotional health and your sleep, blocking harmful light in the hours before sleep is top priority. Sleep Savior glasses are designed to block out 99% of blue light (from 450-570nm) and green light (from 495-570nm) spectrums and allow our brains to actually get sleepy. The renewed sleep that Sleep Savior glasses bring can be life-changing for people suffering from lack of sleep and depression.

Aside from the potential aid for people suffering from depression, getting more sleep with cutting edge Sleep Savior glasses (available early June 2018) can lead to myriad other benefits; increased energy during the day, a strengthened immune system and improved memory.

Restoring healthy circadian rhythms and getting more sleep can be lifesaving. If you are suffering from depression due to sleep deprivation, consider Sleep Savior glasses and start sleeping better tonight. Be the first to hear about product updates, release dates, and get early bird discounts by subscribing to SafetyBlue’s email list. You can also learn more about our other blue light blocking collections for day use as well as the work we’re doing to protect your eyes and your ZZZs on our website.