Sunlight, Mood

Ask Dr. J

How’s Your Cognitive Dexterity?

By Jim Cross, ND, LAc

Does your mind have the cognitive dexterity to be able to see through the attempted demonization of the sun by the various aspects of our society who make stupendous financial sums through the fear that is generated in the public eye of skin cancer, specifically melanoma?

Since the focus of this month’s Townsend is on mental/brain health, let’s start with how the sun marvelously enhances mood. I and probably around 99% of the world feel great when we venture outside and feel the sun hit our bodies. Is this some kind of cognitive delusion? I tend to think not because, as far as I’m concerned, very little improves my wellbeing like walking outside on a bright, sunny day or going to my summer swimming hole and taking off my shirt and feeling the sun hit my body before jumping in. So let’s see if science can lead us in the correct direction.

My mother was an RN, so I tend to love nurses. Plus, she taught me early on that nurses really take care of the patients. I have always wondered why many studies involve nurses. I guess they are more reliable than most groups of people. So, one of the best studies involving light from the sun streaming through windows and its impact on the physiological, psychological, and behavioral health of nurses took place in a community hospital in Texas. The study was conducted in two nurses’ stations on the north and south wards of the hospital. The nurses’ station in the north ward had no access to daylight, whereas the nurses’ station in the south ward had windows that looked out onto portions of the hospital building, the sky, and a courtyard. The north ward used T8 fluorescent ceiling mounted lamps as the only sources of light available. The same lamps were also present in the south ward.

The south ward nurses had statistically: lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, less sleepiness, and a superior mood.¹ They also laughed much more, and communication between them was improved. In addition, caffeine intake was reduced. There was also a non-statistically reduced frequency of medication errors. I hope to never be a patient in a hospital again, but I hope these south ward nurses or nurses like them will be taking care of me if I ever must be in a hospital.

Another study that supports the nurses’ study above found 141 nurses in Turkey reported higher job satisfaction and less occupational stress when exposed to daylight for greater than three hours per day.²

One more study found nurses exposed to exterior nature views reportedly improved their perceived alertness and reduced acute stress. Nurses with no view or non-nature views reported deteriorated perceived alertness and increased acute stress.³

I don’t want to write an over-long article; but there is also compelling evidence that the sun’s exposure can enhance treatments for other brain diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, depression, and seasonal affective disorder/SAD. (Maybe they’re just sad that there is no sun for them to walk or be out in!). The imagination can only ponder the potential benefits if unencumbered sun could flow into hospitals and/or clinical workplaces. Patients, nurses, and doctors would have improved mood, which could lead to overall better health outcomes for their patients, higher safety, and increased overall quality levels. Intelligently designed clinical workplaces need to become not a future goal but a present reality. To put it succinctly: get out of little dark boxes and, as they sang in the musical Hair, let the sunshine in!

One last, final, stray thought: as long as it doesn’t involve alcohol, a pharmaceutical drug, or a street drug, any substance that makes us feel as overwhelmingly good as the sun does probably doesn’t need scientific evidence backing its claims for us to incorporate it thoroughly into our lives. This corroborates what every human being understands intuitively.

In the end, though, remember that the sun and what it physiologically induces in our bodies can never by itself reverse the negative effects of industrial food, an unclean environment, sedentary living, and unkind/negative thoughts. It can, however, totally accentuate the positive attributes of nutrient-rich food, living in a sustainably/environmentally conscious world, movement of our bodies, and kind/positive thoughts. So, use your richly earned cognitive dexterity and wisely embrace the sun!

References

1. Zadeh R, Shepley MM. The Impact of Windows and Daylight on Acute-Care Nurses’ Physiological, Psychological, and Behavioral Health, HERD. Summer 2014;7(4):35 – 61.

2. Alimoglu MK, Donmez L. Daylight exposure and the other predictors of burnout among nurses in a university hospital. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2005; 42:549-555.

3. Pati D, Harvey TE, Barach P. Relationships between exterior views and nurse stress. An exploratory examination. Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 2008; 1(2):27 – 38.