We’re all familiar with the midday slump, where our energy suddenly plummets around lunchtime. Often attributed to heavy meals or caffeine crashes, it turns out another cause may be influencing our drowsiness.
Artificial lighting plays a significant role in how our bodies and minds behave, and may be the underlying cause of this frequent fatigue. Though we’re far from our simian ancestry, we still have firmly-rooted biological habits – starting with the circadian rhythm.
For those unfamiliar with this fancy scientific term, it is the 24-hour cycle our body operates within, and it revolves around the sun – quite literally. As sunset approaches, your body responds by producing melatonin, the sleep hormone.
At least, it should. But as we’re facing increasing exposure to LEDs and blue light from our monitors, working later and later to cram for our work deadlines, we find our drowsiness developing more intermittently.
By delaying the release of melatonin, you’re not only liable to longer lie-ins, but sleepiness may persist as your body continues producing the hormone into the morning. This is especially important for school children, as disrupting sleep disrupts all hormones, which are already volatile during puberty. For an education architect, such as Quattro Design, installing natural lighting is essential for mitigating these risks and ensuring students are in a healthy, productive state of mind.
If the thought of losing sleep doesn’t make you lose any sleep at night, it’s best you know the full health implications – and we assure you, it’s not just migraines and crankiness.
Losing out on good quality sleep is by far the worst health impact caused by artificial lighting. Deep sleep keeps our hormones in check – and not just melatonin. Women may find their menstrual cycles are disrupted, and men may lose their libido without proper rest.
In general, moodiness, anxiety, concentration, and recovery can all be affected by poor lights, which in turn may affect your heart rate and blood pressure. If you can’t avoid your office’s LED glare, maybe try reading instead of scrolling before bed.