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Can Sleeping With a Light on Affect Your Rest?

Restful sleep eludes many people. Caffeine, large meals and anxiety are often to blame. Another common reason why you may not be receiving adequate sleep at night is light. Light affects your brain's ability to rest. Sleep-interrupting lights include everything from sunlight to bright night-lights.

  1. Sunlight Influences on Rest

    • The sun's light tells the brain that it should be awake. The sun does this by telling light sensitive cells that reside in the retina to stop producing melatonin, a hormone that contributes to sleepiness, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, or NIGMS. This action makes it difficult for people to sleep restfully. During the day, shift workers, in particular, may find it difficult to rest. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends that people may receive better rest by blocking out excess light. You can achieve this by wearing a sleep mask or using dark, heavy curtains that reduce light exposure.

    Artificial Light

    • At night, artificial lights can disrupt the body's circadian rhythms or biological clock. Light exposure can cause everything from a restless sleep to the resetting of the body's internal clock, which may make it hard for people to go back to sleep, according to Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine. To improve rest quality, the National Sleep Foundation suggests limiting computer usage, television viewing and avoiding other lights at least one hour before resting.

    Resetting the Biological Clock

    • An ample amount of light during the day may make sleep more restful at night for people with delayed sleep phase syndrome, which is characterized by abnormal sleeping patterns. Some people with the syndrome have trouble with feeling well rested in the morning. Through sunlight and devices like light boxes, light therapy helps reset the biological clock. The Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine explains that light therapy works by shifting sleeping patterns by exposing patients to light upon awakening.

    Reducing Light's Influence on Sleep

    • Pulling the curtains together and closing the blinds at night can dampen ambient light that may stream through the window from streetlights and house lights. Dimmer switches on alarm clocks, lamps and other lights can further reduce the amount of light you receive. In the bedroom, the Better Sleep Council suggests investing lampshades and low-intensity light bulbs that are 60 watts or below.

    Considerations

    • Physical and psychological conditions such as sleep apnea, medications, depression and anxiety can influence rest quality. If sleep and rest problems become problematic for a patient, a healthcare provider should be contacted.

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