The Curious Case Of Artificial Blue Light And Its Effects On Scam Victims During The Scam And Afterward
Artificial Blue Light from Screens is Known to Disrupt Sleep making Scam Victims Easier to Manipulate and Disrupting Recovery
Primary Category: Scam Victim Recovery Psychology
Author:
• Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
About This Article
Artificial blue light from screens can significantly impact scam victims both during and after a scam. The exposure can disrupt sleep patterns by suppressing melatonin production, leading to poor sleep quality and heightened stress levels.
This can increse emotional distress and anxiety, impair decision-making, and reduce the ability to think critically, making victims more vulnerable to scammers.
Post-scam, continued exposure to blue light can prolong these effects, contributing to ongoing anxiety, depression, and difficulty in recovering from the emotional and cognitive impacts of the scam. Managing screen time and ensuring proper sleep hygiene can be crucial for scam victims’ mental health and recovery.
This is but one component, one piece of the puzzle …
Understanding how the human mind is manipulated and controlled involves recognizing that the tactics employed by deceivers are multifaceted and complex. This information is just one aspect of a broader spectrum of vulnerabilities, tendencies, and techniques that permit us to be influenced and deceived. To grasp the full extent of how our minds can be influenced, it is essential to examine all the various processes and functions of our brains and minds, methods and strategies used the criminals, and our psychological tendencies (such as cognitive biases) that enable deception. Each part contributes to a larger puzzle, revealing how our perceptions and decisions can be subtly swayed. By appreciating the diverse ways in which manipulation occurs, we gain a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges we face in avoiding deception in its many forms.
“Thufir Hawat: Now, remember, the first step in avoiding a *trap* – is knowing of its existence.” — DUNE
“If you can fully understand your own mind, you can avoid any deception!” — Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.
“The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.” — Pema Chödrön
Most People Do Not Know About the Effects that Artificial Blue Light has on Their Psychology and Physical Health
Human beings evolved in a natural environment that did not have artificial blue like that is produced by our modern screens. Humans evolved primarily in a yellow-light environment, and even after dark our lives were lit by firelight.
However, modern displays have an unusually high eleven of artificial blue light that profoundly affects our sleep rhythms. This in turn can interfere with our cognitive functions and make us more vulnerable to deception.
What Blue Light Does to Us!
Screens on devices like smartphones, computers, and TVs subtly emit large amounts of blue light, which can affect the neurology of the viewer.
The primary neurological effects of blue light exposure from screens include:
Circadian Rhythm Disruption: Blue light is known to suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Exposure to blue light, especially in the evening or at night, can delay the onset of sleep, disrupt circadian rhythms, and reduce overall sleep quality.
Increased Alertness: Blue light exposure can increase alertness and cognitive performance by stimulating receptors in the eye that are sensitive to blue wavelengths. These receptors influence the body’s internal clock and can signal the brain to stay awake and alert, which when tired can cause increased release of adrenaline and cortisol – stress hormones.
Impact on Mood and Mental Health: Disrupted sleep patterns from excessive blue light exposure can lead to mood changes, increased stress, and anxiety. Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with a higher risk of depression and other mood disorders. This was something that the scammers used to their advantage during the scam.
Eye Strain and Fatigue: Prolonged exposure to screens can lead to digital eye strain, also known as computer vision syndrome. Symptoms include headaches, eye discomfort, blurred vision, and dry eyes. This is not a direct neurological change but can affect overall well-being and cognitive function.
Potential Long-term Effects: There is ongoing research into the long-term effects of blue light exposure, particularly in relation to retinal damage and age-related macular degeneration. However, the evidence is still inconclusive.
To mitigate these effects, it’s recommended to reduce screen time before bed, use blue light filters or “night mode” settings on devices, and practice good sleep hygiene. Generally speaking, unless you are a photographer, leave the blue light filters on all the time.
Artificial Blue Light Influences Hormones and Neurotransmitters
The blue light emitted by screens can influence neurotransmitters and hormones, primarily through its effects on the brain’s regulation of sleep and alertness.
Here are the key ways it affects these chemical messengers:
Melatonin Suppression
Hormone: Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, primarily at night, in response to darkness. It helps regulate sleep-wake cycles.
Effect: Blue light exposure, especially during the evening or night, suppresses melatonin production. This suppression can delay sleep onset, reduce sleep quality, and disrupt circadian rhythms.
Cortisol Increase
Hormone: Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It follows a daily rhythm, with levels peaking in the early morning and decreasing throughout the day.
Effect: Blue light can influence cortisol levels by increasing alertness and wakefulness, which can indirectly elevate cortisol levels, particularly if blue light exposure occurs late in the day. This can contribute to difficulty in falling asleep and staying asleep.
Serotonin Modulation
Neurotransmitter: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation, as well as in the regulation of sleep, appetite, and other physiological functions.
Effect: Exposure to natural sunlight, which contains blue light, can increase serotonin levels, leading to improved mood and alertness. However, artificial blue light exposure from screens does not necessarily have the same positive effect and can disrupt natural serotonin cycles if it interferes with sleep.
Adenosine Regulation
Neurotransmitter: Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep and relaxation by accumulating in the brain throughout the day.
Effect: By delaying sleep onset and reducing sleep quality, blue light can disrupt the natural build-up of adenosine, which can affect overall sleep pressure and wakefulness.
Dopamine and Norepinephrine
Neurotransmitters: These are involved in regulating attention, mood, and alertness.
Effect: While not directly influenced by blue light, disrupted sleep patterns and circadian rhythms caused by blue light exposure can indirectly affect the regulation and balance of these neurotransmitters, potentially impacting mood and cognitive function.
Overall, the disruption of melatonin production is the most direct and well-understood effect of blue light on neurotransmitters and hormones, leading to a cascade of effects on sleep, mood, and overall neurological health effects.
Artificial Blue Light and Anxiety Increase
Blue-lit screens can contribute to increased anxiety, primarily through their effects on sleep and circadian rhythms.
Here are some ways this can happen:
Sleep Disruption: Blue light exposure, especially in the evening or at night, suppresses melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. Poor sleep quality or insufficient sleep is strongly linked to increased levels of anxiety.
Circadian Rhythm Disruption: Consistent exposure to blue light at irregular times can disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythms. This misalignment can lead to mood disturbances, including increased feelings of anxiety.
Increased Cortisol Levels: Blue light exposure can increase alertness and potentially lead to elevated cortisol levels, especially if exposure occurs late in the day. Elevated cortisol, a stress hormone, is associated with increased anxiety levels.
Impact on Mental Health: The use of screens, particularly at night, can contribute to a cycle of poor sleep and increased screen time, which can exacerbate symptoms of anxiety and other mental health issues.
Reduced Time for Relaxation and Recovery: Spending excessive time on devices, particularly at night, can reduce the time available for relaxation and activities that promote mental well-being, such as reading, meditation, or engaging in hobbies. This lack of downtime can increase stress and anxiety.
Information Overload and Social Media: The content consumed on screens, such as social media and news, can also play a role. Exposure to distressing news, social comparisons, and other anxiety-inducing content can increase feelings of anxiety, especially if consumed late in the day or before bed.
While blue light itself may not directly cause anxiety, its effects on sleep and circadian rhythms, combined with the effects on hormones and neurotransmitters and the nature of content consumed on screens, can contribute to increased anxiety levels. Reducing blue light exposure, especially in the hours before bedtime, and managing screen time can help mitigate these effects.
Other Metabolic & Health Effects
Blue-lit screens can have several metabolic and somatic effects due to their influence on circadian rhythms, sleep patterns, and overall lifestyle.
Here are some key effects:
Metabolic Effects:
Disrupted Circadian Rhythms and Metabolism: The disruption of circadian rhythms caused by blue light exposure can lead to metabolic imbalances. Circadian rhythms regulate various bodily functions, including metabolism. Misalignment can result in altered glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, increasing the risk of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.
Altered Appetite and Eating Patterns: Disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms can influence appetite-regulating hormones like ghrelin and leptin, leading to increased hunger and cravings, particularly for high-calorie foods. This can contribute to weight gain and obesity.
Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Some studies suggest that exposure to artificial light at night, including blue light, can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is partly due to impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance.
Somatic (Physical) Effects:
Eye Strain and Discomfort: Prolonged exposure to screens can cause digital eye strain, characterized by symptoms such as dry eyes, blurred vision, headaches, and discomfort in the eyes. Blue light is particularly implicated in causing eye strain due to its high energy and short wavelength.
Disruption of Sleep and Physical Health: Poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep can have widespread effects on physical health. This includes an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, immune system dysfunction, and chronic conditions such as hypertension.
Increased Fatigue and Reduced Physical Performance: The suppression of melatonin by blue light can lead to insufficient rest, resulting in daytime fatigue. This fatigue can affect physical performance, reduce energy levels, and impair cognitive function and mood.
Skin Effects: Some research indicates that blue light exposure can affect skin health by promoting oxidative stress, which can accelerate aging and damage skin cells. Blue light can penetrate deeper into the skin than UV light, potentially contributing to skin aging and pigmentation issues.
Hormonal Disruption: In addition to melatonin suppression, blue light exposure at night can disrupt other hormonal processes, including the secretion of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress and wakefulness. This disruption can affect overall hormonal balance, influencing mood, metabolism, and stress response.
Impact on Cardiovascular Health: Chronic disruption of sleep and circadian rhythms due to blue light exposure can increase the risk of cardiovascular issues, including hypertension, heart disease, and stroke.
Other Effects on the Brain
Exposure to artificial blue light, particularly during the evening or at night, can indeed impact cognitive functions and emotional regulation, potentially contributing to issues such as reduced cognitive performance and increased hyperactivity or emotional dysregulation.
Here’s how blue light exposure can influence these aspects:
Cognitive Disruption
Impaired Sleep Quality and Cognitive Function: Blue light exposure before bedtime can suppress melatonin production, leading to difficulty falling asleep and poorer sleep quality. Insufficient sleep negatively affects cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
Reduced Attention and Concentration: Lack of adequate sleep can reduce the brain’s ability to focus and sustain attention. This can lead to decreased productivity and increased susceptibility to distractions.
Impaired Memory and Learning: Sleep is crucial for memory consolidation. Disruption of sleep due to blue light exposure can impair the ability to consolidate new information, affecting both short-term and long-term memory.
Hyperactivity and Emotional Regulation
Increased Hyperactivity: In some individuals, particularly children and adolescents, disrupted sleep patterns caused by blue light exposure can lead to increased hyperactivity. This is often due to the brain’s attempt to compensate for fatigue by becoming more active, which can manifest as restlessness and difficulty sitting still or concentrating.
Emotional Dysregulation: Lack of sleep can also affect emotional regulation, making individuals more prone to mood swings, irritability, and heightened emotional responses. This can exacerbate feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Altered Neurotransmitter Balance: Blue light exposure and the resulting sleep disruption can influence neurotransmitter systems in the brain, such as serotonin and dopamine, which are critical for mood regulation. Imbalances in these neurotransmitters can lead to changes in mood and behavior, including increased irritability or impulsivity.
Stress Response: Chronic exposure to blue light, particularly at night, can lead to elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. This can result in heightened stress and anxiety levels, further affecting emotional well-being and cognitive function.
To minimize these cognitive and emotional impacts, maintaining a regular sleep schedule and practicing good sleep hygiene can help mitigate the negative effects of blue light on the brain.
Artificial Blue Light Impact on the Amygdala and Other Brain Systems
Artificial blue light exposure, especially during the evening and night, can have significant effects on the amygdala and other brain systems involved in emotional regulation, stress response, and overall brain health.
Here’s how blue light exposure can impact these areas:
Impact on the Amygdala
Emotional Reactivity and Stress Response: The amygdala plays a critical role in processing emotions and is involved in the stress response. Exposure to blue light, particularly at night, can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to heightened stress and anxiety levels. This can increase the reactivity of the amygdala, causing a more intense emotional response to stressors and potentially leading to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Fear and Threat Processing: Disrupted sleep due to blue light exposure can affect the amygdala’s role in fear and threat detection. This can lead to increased sensitivity to perceived threats, resulting in heightened anxiety and possibly contributing to conditions like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Impact on Other Brain Systems
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): The PFC is involved in decision-making, impulse control, and executive function. Blue light exposure, through its disruption of sleep, can seriously impair the functioning of the PFC, leading to difficulties in concentration, decision-making, and controlling impulsive behaviors. This impairment can exacerbate issues related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other cognitive disorders.
Hypothalamus: The hypothalamus regulates the body’s circadian rhythms and sleep-wake cycles. Artificial blue light exposure, particularly from screens, can disrupt the hypothalamus’s regulation of melatonin, leading to poor sleep quality. This disruption can have cascading effects on overall brain health and function, including mood regulation and cognitive performance.
Hippocampus: The hippocampus is crucial for memory formation and spatial navigation. Sleep disruption caused by blue light exposure can impair hippocampal function, leading to memory problems and difficulty in learning new information. Chronic sleep deprivation can even lead to structural changes in the hippocampus, affecting long-term memory storage and retrieval.
Dopaminergic System: The dopaminergic system, which involves the neurotransmitter dopamine, is crucial for reward processing, motivation, and mood regulation. Disrupted sleep can alter dopamine levels and receptor sensitivity, leading to mood swings, decreased motivation, and altered reward processing, which can contribute to addiction and depressive symptoms.
HPA Axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis): The HPA axis regulates the body’s response to stress. Disrupted sleep from blue light exposure can lead to dysregulation of the HPA axis, resulting in abnormal cortisol levels. This dysregulation can increase stress sensitivity and exacerbate conditions like anxiety and depression.
Overall, while blue light has beneficial applications in regulating alertness and wakefulness during the day, excessive exposure, particularly in the evening, can have detrimental effects on the brain’s emotional and cognitive systems which can both increased vulnerability to scams and have a significant impact on scam victims’ ability to recover from these crimes.
Blue Light Filter – How To Turn On
♦ Android Phones:
-
- Go to SETTINGS, DISPLAY
- The Turn on BLUE LIGHT FILTER or EYE COMFORT
♦ iPhone:
-
- Go to “Settings”
- Navigate to “Display and Brightness”
- Turn “Night Shift” mode on.
- Choose “Scheduled” or “Manually Enable Until Tomorrow”
- Set the color temperature slider position.
♦ Windows Laptop or Computer:
-
- Go to SETTINGS
- Search for ‘Display’ Settings
- Turn on ‘Night Light’
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Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and to not blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and to help victims avoid scams in the future. At times this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims, we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.
These articles, about the Psychology of Scams or Victim Psychology – meaning that all humans have psychological or cognitive characteristics in common that can either be exploited or work against us – help us all to understand the unique challenges victims face before, during, and after scams, fraud, or cybercrimes. These sometimes talk about some of the vulnerabilities the scammers exploit. Victims rarely have control of them or are even aware of them, until something like a scam happens and then they can learn how their mind works and how to overcome these mechanisms.
Articles like these help victims and others understand these processes and how to help prevent them from being exploited again or to help them recover more easily by understanding their post-scam behaviors. Learn more about the Psychology of Scams at www.ScamPsychology.org
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The information provided in this and other SCARS articles are intended for educational and self-help purposes only and should not be construed as a substitute for professional therapy or counseling.
Note about Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices have the potential to create psychological distress for some individuals. Please consult a mental health professional or experienced meditation instructor for guidance should you encounter difficulties.
While any self-help techniques outlined herein may be beneficial for scam victims seeking to recover from their experience and move towards recovery, it is important to consult with a qualified mental health professional before initiating any course of action. Each individual’s experience and needs are unique, and what works for one person may not be suitable for another.
Additionally, any approach may not be appropriate for individuals with certain pre-existing mental health conditions or trauma histories. It is advisable to seek guidance from a licensed therapist or counselor who can provide personalized support, guidance, and treatment tailored to your specific needs.
If you are experiencing significant distress or emotional difficulties related to a scam or other traumatic event, please consult your doctor or mental health provider for appropriate care and support.
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