I was listening to a radio program on CBC Radio One a couple of years ago. A doctor was talking about navigating through the rainy and cloudy days of the city where I live. He said something which has stuck with me ever since. He stressed the importance of getting some outside time, during daylight hours, even on the most dreary of days in order to stay as upbeat as possible. He went on to say that even on a cloudy day there is more natural light outside than inside one's home. Then, last evening (when I should have been sleeping) I was reading an article from "Scientific American Mind" (June/July 2007 issue) which included a discussion of the sleep disruptions observed in persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and came across some numbers which shed a bit more light (no pun intended ) on the matter. According to the article, the average living room has 50 lux* of light. In comparison, dull winter daylight reaches about 5,000 lux per day. What a huge difference, even when simply dealing with averages.
(*one lux equals one lumen per square metre.)
D.
