Posted on:
October 8th, 2024
Last reviewed:
January 3rd, 2025
What is bright light therapy?
Bright light therapy is sometimes spoken about as a treatment to help with sleep issues for those living with dementia. Studies are still ongoing, but there is some evidence that suggests that light therapy can help with dementia sleep disturbances by helping to regulate circadian rhythms, also known as the biological body clock. Your body clock goes through cycles over the course of 24 hours and is affected by many things, including exposure to light. When you have dementia, changes in your brain mean these rhythms are disrupted, which can lead to sleep problems at night. Bright light therapy involves sitting in front of a light box that emits significantly more light than a standard lightbulb, for a certain amount of time during the day. This has been shown to help improve sleep by reducing the need for daytime naps, which in turn has a knock-on effect of improving night-time sleep. Some studies have shown that bright light therapy might help with other dementia symptoms, too. In general, it’s not available on the NHS so you’ll need to buy your own light lamp, the same type that’s used to help with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).Other relevant FAQs you might like...
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