Light Therapy for Insomnia
Exposure to bright light, typically used to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), may help reset your body clock. This technique is best suited for sleep phase insomnia, which occurs when you either go to bed too late and have trouble getting up in the morning or (more common as we age) you fall asleep too soon and wake too early, but sleep well during the night.
If you have trouble going to sleep, for example, Art Spielman, PhD, a longtime sleep researcher and psychology professor at the City University of New York, recommends getting up at the same time every day and immediately going outside for 15 minutes to an hour. Using an indoor light box that mimics the sun’s light is an alternative. In the evening, dim lights before sliding between the sheets.
If the trouble comes with falling asleep at 8 p.m. and waking in the wee hours, the opposite may help – exposure to bright light in the evening, and keeping lights low when you first wake up. A sleep specialist can help you determine if light therapy would help your insomnia.
More Tips for Treating Insomnia
Read more about Getting a Good Night's Sleep
