Light has forever been interesting to people. It has deep psychological influences on humans, from associating it with good and the dark with the bad, all the way to the seasonal disorders that can very easily affect people who don’t get enough light. Also, natural light brings you the necessary vitamin D, wakes you up, sets the right mood in your home and entices you to work in your office. Therefore, it not wonder that people have many theories and opinions about lights. Some of these are true, but other are no more than just myths. Here are some of the myths and facts about lights and its role in your life.
If you read under weak light, you will go blind
Actually, this is a myth. It is impossible to go blind this way, or even significantly corrupt your vision by reading in the dark. Of course, this doesn’t meant that it is healthy, but it causes far less damage than people usually believe. The negative effect on the eyes under the low light, when you are trying to read is actually an effect of strain that you make. This strain can be so hard that you might develop headache and pain in the face muscles around your eyes.
Staring directly at light can hurt your eyes
This is absolutely correct. When you stare directly at the light, the cells that are responsible for the light detecting produce chemicals that should warn muscles, nerves and the whole apparatus about that and “tell” it to protect the eye. However, the prolonged exposure means that your eye wants to do something (close) and you are forcing it to do the opposite. This can cause degenerative processes of your eye muscles, damage the eye nerve and damage the lens of your eye.
Strong, white light is the best
The correct answer to this is: it depends. What you need to take care about is the reflection of the light. Too much light can be just as bad for your eyes as too little light. If you have strong, white light directed at a white or glaring surface in front of you, you will definitely have some of that reflection coming back to your eyes. Therefore, only use such light if you are working with non-reflective surfaces.
Too much exposure to artificial light can damage your skin
In a way, the skin that is exposed to the artificial, and the so called, blue light is more prone to lifeless look. Your skin will not get burnt or anything like that, but it gets vitamin D from sunlight and that is not something that you can get from the artificial light. The skin can grow to be pale, lifeless and dull. However, the long term effects are not serious.
Light can cure depression
The scientists have confirmed that there are types of disorders, such as seasonal depression that have everything to do with the lack of exposure to the sunlight. In these cases, the sunlight can be replaced, during winter and late autumn, with the different lights that can soothe the symptoms of this disorder. This is called light therapy and it is very effective.
People are not the only living things on Earth that are so highly effected by the light. Therefore, its influence on our ecosystem and our wellbeing should be carefully considered when planning your living space or office.
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Lighting Myths and Facts
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