Falling asleep with the TV on or a dim night-light in your room may seem soothing.But these seemingly innocent light sources could also form barries between you and
healthy sleep.
A study suggests that exposure to light stimulates a nerve pathway from the eye to
parts of the brain that control hormones, body temperature, and other functions that play
a role in making us feel sleepy or wide-awake. Therefore, too much light rightbefore
bedtime may prevent you from getting a good night's sleep. In fact, one study recenly
found that exposure to unnatural light cycles may have real consequences for our health-
including increased risk for depression,
Not only depression, a breast cancer care organization says that light may contibute
to breast cancer. It is resulted from the melatonin, a hormone that is believed to help
reduce the development of cancer, which is really related with light. Melatonin production
normally peaks at night and is lower during the day when your eyes register light
exposure. When people work at night or if they're exposed to external light at night, their
melatonin levels tend to stay low.
Those are now some good reasons for those having dark phobia to turn off the lights
before sleeping. If overcoming your fear of the dark isn't enaough to turn out the lights,
consider the impact of sleep disorders and poor sleep on your health
44. What are the drawbacks of turning on the light while sleeping?​