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Daily Blue Light Therapy Found To Help Improve Sleep Among Patients With PTSD

sementsova321 - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

It has long been known that consistently getting a quality night’s sleep is vital for maintaining your mental health. But, this could not be more true for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Approximately six out of every one hundred U.S. adults– or six percent of the population– will have PTSD at some point in their lives. This means that about twelve million adults have or are diagnosed with PTSD every single year.

And unfortunately, even though sleep is crucial for managing symptoms of PTSD, those with the disorder often have to deal with turbulent sleep schedules.

The inability to fall or stay asleep can also seriously impact PTSD treatment outcomes since poor sleep lessens treatment effectiveness and can lead to increased symptoms.

So, it has been proven that consistent quality sleep will help patients with PTSD reduce and even eliminate the emotional impact of their traumatic memories.

The persistent problem, though, has been finding a way to ensure PTSD patients can achieve a sound slumber.

Well, a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine has found that blue light therapy can help people with PTSD on multiple fronts.

“Morning blue light treatment improves sleep complaints, symptom severity, and retention of fear extinction memory in post-traumatic stress disorder,” explained William Killgore, the study’s senior author.

The team came to this conclusion after examining how daily blue-wavelength light exposure impacted individuals diagnosed with clinically high levels of PTSD.

sementsova321 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

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