When Thomas Edison had his light bulb moment, few thought of the repercussions it may have for mental health. Understandably, we were far more focused on the benefits. Suddenly, we didn’t have to risk burning the house down with all those candles. We could walk around at night without tripping over. We could go to a convenience store at 2.00 am, buy a slushie and feel like we were standing on the sun! It was literally brilliant.
The electric lightbulb meant we weren’t beholden to the operating hours of that yellow orb in the sky. We could be more productive, working and studying long into the night. We could fit in more fun activities like dancing, crocheting and whatever was big before scrolling came along. When we found ourselves feeling a little tired, we could flick a switch on and flick our middle finger up to our natural circadian rhythms.
Back then, we didn’t understand just how important sleep, darkness and natural light were to the functioning of our brains. We danced and crocheted with gay abandon, never expecting that all this nighttime frivolity would one day catch up with us.
We now know that sleep is central to good mental health. Sleep is when our brains get a chance to detox and carry out all the important repair work that can keep them functioning at their best. During sleep we embed memories and learning. If we are lucky, we also get to have cool dreams where we can fly.
The average adult now sleeps for around seven hours a night. Before Edison came along that figure was somewhere between eight and nine. Rather than a single sleep period, most pre 20th century humans would go to bed soon after dusk, sleep for a few hours, have a little wake break and then go back to sleep until dawn.
It’s not just Edison we have to blame for our poor sleep. You may also wish to blame Steve Jobs (inventor of the iPhone), Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph (founders of Netflix), Riccardo Zacconi (inventor of Candy Crush Saga) and countless others who have worked to keep our eyeballs focused on screens at times when they should be relaxing in the lovely dark space behind our eyelids.
In recent times, most have us have been battling the blue light emitted from electronic screens. Blue light suppresses the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep. This suppression can delay the onset of sleep and reduce overall sleep quality.
In addition to mucking up our melatonin, the mental stimulation provided by our devices can also interfere with sleep. With our minds wound up in emails, social media or grisly true crime dramas, we may find it more difficult to fall asleep and experience poorer sleep quality overall.
While we could blame Edison and all his modern eyeball sucking friends for our terrible sleep, that’s probably not going to get us far. Instead, here are a few practical things we can all do to enjoy the benefits of better shut-eye.
1. Support your circadian rhythms
It is best to keep your environment as dark as possible at night. A candlelit dinner is not just romantic, it will also help transition you from daytime alertness to natural nighttime sleepiness. Exposure to early morning sunlight is also invaluable for helping your body return to its natural rhythm. If you have a dog take them out for a dawn walk. If you don’t have a dog, enjoy a dawn walk where you don’t have to pick up anything nasty.
2. Be wary of awesomnia
During major sporting events I frequently suffer from awesomnia. This completely made-up but very common condition occurs when there is something so awesome that you feel compelled to stay up and watch it, even though doing so will result in you sacrificing much-needed sleep. Getting to sleep at a regular hour is really important, so when you feel the temptation to stay up for the fifth set of tennis, binge watch a series finale or try to scroll to the end of Instagram, tell yourself to go to bed instead. You will probably enjoy this awesome thing even more at a time when your brain is functioning properly and you are not intermittently dozing off and dribbling on the couch.
3. Drop the device or at least flick it into night mode
Ideally, it’s best if you steer clear of electronic devices in the hours before you go to bed. You are likely to have better sleep if you spend you pre-bed hours soaking in a bath, reading a book or performing some other relaxing activity. If you simply can’t resist the lure of a device, look for a night mode setting that blocks out blue light. There are also various apps that can limit access at certain hours to prevent you from going down a digital rabbit hole and emerging exhausted in the morning.