[stylist] off-topic, circadian cycles

[Steve Jacobson]

Again, can you explain to me how we know it is the lack of light being received by the eyes?  If you 
take a cross section of blind people for such a study, how do they compare with a group of sighted 
persons having other similar characteristics such as 70% unemployment, or having recent large changes in 
their lives such as blind persons who have recently lost vision.  Is a person depressed in the winter 
because they don't get enough sun, or could it have to do with it being difficult to go anywhere because 
of weather?  It is pretty much a given that the less sun, the worse the weather in the winter.  I 
certainly can't say that I have read every study, but a couple that I've looked at in the past contained 
all kinds of assumptions with a seeming lack of attention to comparing those who are blind with a 
similar set of persons who are not.  In my family, I've also personally experienced a doctor who got so 
excited that he had a blind person who had a sleep disorder that we had to get almost a little mean to 
get him to check for apnea before he started doing his research and writing his paper, and as a result 
they found one of the worst cases of apnea they had seen.  He was going to launch into the blindness 
study before even checking that.  I've just never had a good feeling about all of this, even though I 
recognize there are a lot of mysteries regarding the human body that we don't understand, and there 
might be effects of sunlight that we don't understand.  What I fear is that sometimes blind persons are 
not getting treated for the real problem as a result of the way some of this comes down.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:43:47 -0500, Bridgit Pollpeter wrote:

>Barbara,

>It's true that blind people who don't have light perception tend to have
>their sleep patterns off because of the lack of exposure to sunlight. A
>similar thing happens to people living in Alaska where it's dark six
>months out of the year. Alaskans have experienced similar off-cycle
>sleep patterns along with depression.

>There are also people like me, for whatever reason, who just are night
>owls. Part of my problem is that my brain is always on the go. Even when
>exhausted, I can't turn my mind off long enough to fall asleep. Perhaps
>this accounts for my strange, vivid dreams. Smile

>I still have light perception, though, so I doubt my sleep issues are
>related to my vision. In fact, my vision has been clearing lately and
>bright light is a bitch! Smirk. Plus, I had the same issue with sleep
>and being a night owl when I was sighted.

>I've learned some relaxing techniques, and often I have to have a book
>or TV playing in the background just so I have something to concentrate
>on to avoid thinking. I hate having a TV in the bedroom, so I usually
>fall asleep in the spare room or livingroom then my husband carries me
>into bed. Once asleep, though, I'm out, stone-cold, unless the baby is
>here then I wake at the drop of a pin. LOL

>Sincerely,
>Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>Read my blog at:
>http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
> 
>"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
>The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

>Message: 10
>Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:29:02 -0500
>From: "Barbara Hammel" <poetlori8 at msn.com>
>To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: Re: [stylist] off-topic, circadian cycles
>Message-ID: <SNT139-ds194762109A70EF5E2F5594EBF60 at phx.gbl>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>	reply-type=response

>But I think one's system can just be off just because that's the way one
>was 
>made.  I understand what you're saying and it does seem to hold true.  I

>know since I lost what little vision I had, I seem tired all the time 
>because I don't see the sun to make me feel alert.
>But some people just seem to be off.  I'm a bit like Bridget in that I'd

>love to be able to stay up later and get up later because I've always
>found 
>night time such an enchanting time for thinking and writing. Barbara


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