Hellbore
Enlightened
Hey guys, I'm somewhat of a flashaholic and have been enjoying these forums for some years now.
I have also had terrible problems sleeping all my life. I finally saw a sleep specialist and I was diagnosed with something called DSPS or Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. It's sort of like having jet lag all your life.
What it boils down to is, for most people, if they make themselves wake up early in the morning, the sleep deprivation will cause their body to adjust its sleep clock and allow them to fall asleep earlier in the evening, shifting their sleep schedule, and in this way they can become accustomed to going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier. When you have DSPS, however, your body doesn't adjust to this sleep deprivation. You simply wake up early, feel tired, then when night comes, you still can't fall asleep until your body's set sleep time, which is often very late, such as 2 to 4 AM. When you finally do fall asleep, you sleep soundly, and if allowed to stay asleep, you can sleep a full 8 hours and get a good night's sleep, but unfortunately most people's life schedules don't allow for sleeping in until noon every day! So, unless they can work an afternoon or night shift, most people with DSPS go through life forcing themselves to wake at a normal hour in the morning, then can't sleep until late, and consequently never get enough sleep.
One theory that has been successful for some people is that you can get some results from using light to influence your brain's sleep schedule. Where sleep deprivation failed to reset your brain's sleep schedule, perhaps light therapy will prove more successful. Now we get to my question for CPF! I am interested in building a device for light therapy. Basically it needs to be a very bright light to simulate sunlight, which will shine on me while I'm in bed, and will turn itself on in the morning when it's time to wake up. The exposure to bright light is supposed to help convince the brain to adjust its sleep clock. I was thinking perhaps a panel with multiple high-powered LED's might be suitable for this purpose.
What do you think? Has anyone done this before? Would LED's be a good choice or would the cost for such a large-scale lighting device be prohibitive? It's supposed to simulate sunlight, would LED's provide a wide enough spectrum of light?
Alas, simply opening a window isn't an option for me, I live in an apartment complex with unpleasant neighbors and frequent crime, so I can't be exposing my sleeping self like that
I have also had terrible problems sleeping all my life. I finally saw a sleep specialist and I was diagnosed with something called DSPS or Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. It's sort of like having jet lag all your life.
What it boils down to is, for most people, if they make themselves wake up early in the morning, the sleep deprivation will cause their body to adjust its sleep clock and allow them to fall asleep earlier in the evening, shifting their sleep schedule, and in this way they can become accustomed to going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier. When you have DSPS, however, your body doesn't adjust to this sleep deprivation. You simply wake up early, feel tired, then when night comes, you still can't fall asleep until your body's set sleep time, which is often very late, such as 2 to 4 AM. When you finally do fall asleep, you sleep soundly, and if allowed to stay asleep, you can sleep a full 8 hours and get a good night's sleep, but unfortunately most people's life schedules don't allow for sleeping in until noon every day! So, unless they can work an afternoon or night shift, most people with DSPS go through life forcing themselves to wake at a normal hour in the morning, then can't sleep until late, and consequently never get enough sleep.
One theory that has been successful for some people is that you can get some results from using light to influence your brain's sleep schedule. Where sleep deprivation failed to reset your brain's sleep schedule, perhaps light therapy will prove more successful. Now we get to my question for CPF! I am interested in building a device for light therapy. Basically it needs to be a very bright light to simulate sunlight, which will shine on me while I'm in bed, and will turn itself on in the morning when it's time to wake up. The exposure to bright light is supposed to help convince the brain to adjust its sleep clock. I was thinking perhaps a panel with multiple high-powered LED's might be suitable for this purpose.
What do you think? Has anyone done this before? Would LED's be a good choice or would the cost for such a large-scale lighting device be prohibitive? It's supposed to simulate sunlight, would LED's provide a wide enough spectrum of light?
Alas, simply opening a window isn't an option for me, I live in an apartment complex with unpleasant neighbors and frequent crime, so I can't be exposing my sleeping self like that
