The study analyzed\u00a0data from\u00a0nearly 40,000\u00a0people aged 50 and above across the U.S., England, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and used satellite data to measure nighttime lights levels in the participants\u2019 areas compared to their mental health<\/a> scores.\u00a0<\/p>\n The results indicated that that those living in the areas with more artificial lights were more likely to report symptoms of depression that those who lived in darker areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Northern Ireland, people in the most light-polluted areas were\u00a0nearly 80 percent\u00a0more likely to experience depression. The results\u00a0held\u00a0up\u00a0across all four countries, albeit to\u00a0different degrees, even after adjusting for other factors like air pollution,\u00a0income\u00a0and neighbourhood conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n This study also examined how the effects varied between urban and rural areas. In England and Ireland, rural residents appeared more vulnerable to the effects of ALAN, while in the U.S. it was the opposite.\u00a0<\/p>\n Experts believe that ALAN can cause circadian disruption, messing with our natural rhythms and internal clock. This can interfere with\u00a0sleep quality, hormone production <\/a>and emotional regulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n While this study is one of the most comprehensive on the subject, scientists note that more precise methods are needed to fully understand all the ways in which exposure to\u00a0artificial lighting\u00a0can affect mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have a tip on a health story that\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0should be covering? Do you have a question about\u00a0ALAN? Let us know via\u00a0health@newsweek.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reference<\/p>\n So, R., D\u2019Souza, J., Feeney, J., K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fckali, H., Keller, K. P., Di Gessa, G., Valson, J. S., Hunter, R. F., McGuinness, B., Kee, F., Nolan, A., Mc Loughlin, S., Lee, J., Adar, S. D., & Zaninotto, P. (2025). Artificial outdoor light at night and depression in older adults in the USA, England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. Environment International, 205. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.envint.2025.109886<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the days become shorter\u00a0and nights get longer, many brace for\u00a0the winter blues. But what\u00a0actually causes\u00a0them?\u00a0\u00a0 For decades,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[113772,49,48,6319,84,18003,393,394,122135,994,66,8864,101462],"class_list":{"0":"post-264487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-artificial-light","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-depression","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-light","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-mentalhealth","16":"tag-night-lights","17":"tag-research","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-winter","20":"tag-winter-blues"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-538312343.jpg\"\/)
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