September 9, 2014

The Blue Light Demon
By Charlotte

I've always been fascinated by light and its various properties, and the fact that it's the only entity that is both a particle and a wave. Much of my fascination with wavelengths and frequencies found its way into Sharon's and my novel "The Dream Crystals of Gandara." While the frequencies that affect our characters so profoundly in the book are fictitious, there is a frequency we're exposed to every day that has had a huge impact on me personally.

I like to catch up on my reading before I fall asleep at night. So most nights I bring my Kindle to bed and read until I can't stay awake any longer. The trouble was the period of time before I could fall asleep was becoming longer and longer. And then I discovered the cause of my insomnia: the blue light emissions from my Kindle were keeping me awake.

It turns out that blue light stimulates alertness and suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate our sleep and wake cycles. Smart phones, tablets, monitors, pretty all electronic screens, emit blue light along with other colors in the spectrum. During the daytime, this is a good thing. But not when you're trying to fall asleep at night.

After doing a bit of research, I installed a free app to filter blue light. I can now read on my Kindle without fear of insomnia—at least that caused by short-wavelength light. I'm still waiting for an app that will help me put down a great book with a page-turning plot.

If you're interested in finding out more about the effects of different colors of the light spectrum on our health and well being, check out this blog at Psychology Today.