In 1980, I joined a medical mission and worked in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. It was scorching hot there, and women were not allowed to drive or go out alone. My life was confined to the dormitory, the hospital, and the shopping mall.
Perhaps due to excessive stress, I suffered from severe insomnia. I went from taking one sleeping pill to five. I could fall asleep after taking the medication, but I couldn't get up in the morning, felt fatigued during the day, had trouble thinking, bumped into things while walking, and often had bruises. Life was quite unpleasant.
After a year of service, I returned to Taiwan. My father said that I had gone to a sunny place but came back looking pale and almost moldy. He urged me to get some sun and quit the sleeping pills. I listened to my father and walked on the sports field every morning. Indeed, I reduced my sleeping pills from five to zero and enjoyed a life of natural sleep.
Having experienced insomnia, I pay close attention to medical reports on sleep and practice healthy sleep habits. These include exercising for an hour daily, not napping or resting my eyes during the day, actively relieving stress, going to bed early, waking up at a fixed time, avoiding 3C products before bed, and drinking alcohol in moderation.
A year ago, due to lumbar disc degeneration and sciatica, I followed expert advice and stopped playing golf, switching to an indoor elliptical machine. The sciatica was later relieved by minimally invasive decompression surgery. Just as I was about to enjoy a healthy life again, I unknowingly became plagued by insomnia. Many nights, even though I was exhausted, I couldn't fall asleep. And when I finally did, I would wake up after two or three hours. Because I had to go to work the next day, I could only surrender and rely on sleeping pills.
I consulted many references, and sleeping pills should not be used continuously for more than four weeks. I didn't know how to resolve the situation, and then I remembered my father telling me to get sun for insomnia. So I decided to act. Every morning before work, I went for a brisk walk in Daan Forest Park. The winter sun was warm and pleasant on my skin, with blue skies and white clouds, the chirping of insects and birds, and the park was lush green. Many walkers encouraged each other, making the walk feel effortless. One lap around the park is about two kilometers, and I walked three laps every day, completing it in about 70 minutes.
After I started walking in the park in the morning, sleepiness naturally came in the evening, and I could sleep for six hours straight. With a little extra time spent in bed, it could reach eight hours. I returned to life without sleeping pills, my mind was clear during the day, and I regained hope in life.
Many people in Taiwan suffer from insomnia, but sun exposure is rarely mentioned when discussing treatment. We live in a subtropical region, but many people don't get enough sun or can't get sun. In addition, the proliferation of 3C electronic products means that blue light can interfere with melatonin secretion, leading to insomnia.
Sleep medicine experts believe that the biggest factor affecting poor sleep quality is light, because light affects the regulation of the hypothalamus and pineal gland's circadian rhythm. When humans wake up and are exposed to sunlight, their biological clock adjusts to a daytime mode. The pineal gland in the brain is responsible for producing melatonin, and sunlight exposure can regulate melatonin levels. Sufficient melatonin levels can help induce sleep at night.
Every cell in the human body operates according to a day-night rhythm. Jet lag when traveling abroad can affect sleep, skin, and even appetite, with light being the most important factor. Professor Wang Zhen-xing of National Cheng Kung University conducted an experiment with an IoT lighting system, allowing students to experience the effects of sun exposure in the classroom. High school students were willing to go to bed earlier, and their sleep duration also increased.
Sunlight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. It is recommended to get at least 30 minutes of sunlight outdoors every day. Literature reports that people who spend one to two hours outdoors daily experience significantly reduced anxiety, stress, and depression compared to those who get less than 30 minutes of sun exposure daily, and they also sleep better.
Looking back, both of my insomnia experiences were related to a lack of sun exposure. Sunlight, air, and water are the three essential elements of life, and indeed, they should not be ignored.
(The author is the director of United Plastic Surgery Clinic and an attending physician in the Department of Plastic Surgery at National Taiwan University Hospital; the original text was published on UDN Health, and this article is reproduced with the author's authorization)
https://health.gvm.com.tw/article/100605