There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
I haven’t written much about my grow-light in a while, for fear of running off the tiny handful of folks who still read here. (BORRRRING).
But I found this article today and thought I’d share it. I’m still trying to grok all the mechanisms that are going on inside us that regulate sleep and mood. Yeah, good luck with that, right?
Anyway, as to me and my little light “a “go lite P1” in case you are keeping score. Amazon had it for under $100 bucks; came with a carrying case, works fine). I use it for 15 minutes each morning when I get up. I don’t know if it helps my mood. I like to think it does. As my shrink has told me, “the mind is powerful. if we think positive thoughts it often has positive outcomes.” Which explains my massive success in the business world. Anyway, it seems it might help. Most nights I sleep just fine, especially if I follow part 2 of my plan, which is “no coffee after noon.” Sorry, I don’t have one of those referral link things to Amazon, I’m old skool (lazy) and haven’t set any thing like that up.
Here’s the link to the article I was talking about, and here’s a tiny excerpt:
To further explain the enormous effect light exposure has on the physiology and functioning of the body, we need to take a closer look at the hormone melatonin. As light levels decrease in the evening, the pineal gland begins producing melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone whose main function is to induce sleep by traveling through the bloodstream and transmitting the sleep message to other body systems. In healthy individuals the secretion of melatonin peaks in the middle of the night during our deepest sleep. At dawn, sunlight shining into the eye triggers the pineal gland to switch off the production of melatonin, thus removing the desire to sleep. Since melatonin travels to all parts of the body in the blood, it has far-reaching effects, as all hormones do. During the hours of darkness and sleep, melatonin influences the secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland, often referred to as the “master gland” of the endocrine system. The pituitary then reduces hormone production from other important endocrine glands such as the thyroid and adrenals. These glands produce vital hormones such as thyroid hormone, cortisol, and adrenaline, which control metabolism and motivate us to action during our waking hours.
Researchers have found that this system is disrupted in people with SAD. When SAD patients were compared with healthy controls, it was found that the SAD patients had consistently higher daytime melatonin levels during the winter months (6). High daytime melatonin levels would be expected to produce the symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness and the lack of motivation and desire to hibernate, that is seen in SAD sufferers. Other research has shown that taking melatonin supplements, which are available over-the-counter in the US, effectively “phase-shifts” the disrupted circadian rhythms (7). What this means is that if you have SAD and you tend to get to sleep past midnight and wake well into the morning or midday, if you take melatonin at say 9-10pm to induce sleep, your sleep cycle will be shifted back to normal and you will be able to wake earlier in the morning.
You’ll have to go over to read the rest, if it interests you, the next section is on “Serotonergic Dysfunction” which gives me a woody just thinking about it 😛
And since all of this can have you wondering about my mental state, here’s a picture of a couple critters watching a sunrise.
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