The Effects of Lighting on Our Sleeping Patterns & Health

Ever wondered how lighting affects your health and general wellbeing? Lighting goes beyond just the safety aspects of providing enough illumination to see by; lighting also affects our mood and sleep patterns. Poor lighting, on the other end of the spectrum, can cause glare, headaches, eyestrain, and various types of sight loss. 

The Circadian Rythm

From a health viewpoint, lighting, or “light”, is the single most important factor that influences our Circadian Rhythm, turning on or off hormones that control our sleeping patterns. Circadian Rhythm is essentially our body’s internal biological clock that governs our sleep-wake cycles. Naturally, our overall mental and physical health is contingent upon our Circadian Rhythm working properly, and remaining synchronised with day and night. When our Circadian Rhythm is properly synced, we will sleep soundly at night and have all the energy to perform throughout the day. To understand more about lighting and Circadian Rhythm, read our previous article “The Science Behind Lighting, Productivity & Sleep Health”.

Light & The Health Effects

Check out the infographic below from BRE Group: Lighting for interesting statistics on the health effects of lighting such as chronic diseases, myopia, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and much more. This is why we reckon good lighting planning is absolutely vital for both your home and your workplace!