Can Light Therapy Help People With Insomnia?

3 min read

Results from our 2022 Annual HIV In America showed 22 percent of survey takers living with HIV experienced insomnia. Because sleep is an important part of overall health, people are looking for different ways to improve their sleep quality. This article explores the option of light therapy as a means to help people who are living with insomnia.

Some studies show that exposure to light can help some people with certain kinds of insomnia. However, research results are mixed. Let us – ahem – shine a light on it.¹

What is bright light therapy?

Bright light therapy, or just light therapy, can help some people change when they sleep. It can be useful for people who have an irregular sleep-wake cycle. This cycle is also called the circadian rhythm.^1-3

Light therapy can be useful for people who have trouble falling asleep or those who wake up earlier than they want to. However, it may be less useful for people who have trouble staying asleep.²

Light therapy works by resetting the sleep-wake cycle. It does this by exposing your eyes to sunlight or a specially designed bright light at specific times of the day. People most often use the light for 30 to 90 minutes at a time. Light therapy can be used to help you fall asleep earlier or to help you wake up later.^2,4

If you have trouble falling asleep, you may want to use light therapy just after waking up. If you find yourself waking up too early, you may need your light therapy before bedtime.⁴

But first, a warning: Never stare directly at the light. This can injure your eyes.⁴

Getting started with light therapy

Light therapy itself is surprisingly low-tech. This may partly explain why it is not often prescribed.⁵

A sleep therapist can help you figure out the best time of day to use light therapy and for how long. Both of these decisions will depend on your sleep situation. Before helping you make these decisions, your sleep therapist may ask you to keep a journal or diary of your sleeping habits. The information you record in your journal will help your sleep therapist understand your sleeping problems and recommend the right therapy.^2,4

Some questions to ask your sleep therapist may include:

Can I use sunlight?
What kind of artificial light (or light device) should I use?
How do I know if the light is bright enough?
How far should I sit from the light?
How long should I use the light?
Is it okay to use light therapy and continue to take my medicines?

How to use light therapy

Different light sources can be used for this type of therapy. If there is bright sunlight outdoors, that works. Special light boxes that emit light of 1,000 lux (brighter than normal indoor light) and low-intensity light visors can also work. Recent research shows that bluer light is the most effective at changing sleep-wake cycles.⁴

You can use light therapy while doing other activities. If you set the light at your side, you can also:⁴

Read, knit, or work on art
Watch TV or work on a computer
Listen to music
Eat a meal

It is key to expose yourself to the light source at the same time of day and for the amount of time your sleep therapist recommends.⁴

What does the research say?

Research shows that bright light therapy can change your circadian rhythm. But whether light therapy can help specific conditions like insomnia and depression is not as clear.^1,4

One study reviewed 21 experiments that looked at the effect of light therapy on older adults who had trouble with their sleep or circadian rhythms. It found that most studies showed an effect, but the effect was small. One problem with the study was that many of the experiments it reviewed had a small number of participants. This means the results might not apply to many people.⁵

A second study used much stricter ways to measure the effect of light therapy on insomnia. It found that light therapy was effective for general sleep problems and for insomnia. However, light therapy was not as good at helping people with circadian rhythm disorders. This second study also found that though light therapy helped people’s sleep problems, the effect was small to medium.¹

Talk to your sleep therapist or doctor if you want to try light therapy.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The H-I-V.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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Ze Moderator & Contributor
I have had excessive daytime sleepiness for as long as I can remember. My anxiety often leads my brain to a million thoughts when I am trying to sleep. I have, in the past, taken medications that helped me fall asleep at night. However, I stopped used medications because it personally made me feel bad mentally and physically. . .especially when extended usage made it necessary for a higher dose, and my sleep was dependent on that medication. I have done plenty of research on insomnia and sleep but have never researched the circadian rhythm sleep disorder. However, I was told by a therapist (once upon a time), to get a light and sit under it to improve my mood. I never continued on this journey but after reading this article, I am intrigued to read and learn more. I like the idea of using the light beside you while you do an activity. I work from home, and think this would be easy for me to add to my office to help. I will be doing more research on this, and thank you all for the informational article. Ze (H-I-V.net Team Member)
Ze Moderator & Contributor
After going to do some reading on the article, I wanted to update that I remember WHY my therapist told me about the light therapy. I have depression but it is WAY worse in the winter months. My depression in the winter is the hardest for me. I wanted to add this note so that if anyone has seasonal depression, this treatment may be something you want to ask your doctor about. Ze (H-I-V.net Team Member)
Khafre Kujichagulia Abif Moderator
Alafia (Peace) I am living with insomnia. I have never heard of light therapy before reading this article. Thank you all again for providing information which we don't normally cone by. Great job. Khafre (H-I-V.net Team Member)
CommunityMember143 Member
I suffer from insomnia how does it effect HIV and sleeping I get maybe 4 hours of sleep a day 
1. LizGreen Community Admin
 <inline-mention username="CommunityMember143" user-id="4787097"/> Good sleep is important to maintaining your health while living with HIV, but it can be so hard when you are dealing with insomnia. How long have you been struggling with sleep?