Chris Kresser: Yeah, I mean, this is just really endemic in our culture now. People can’t even imagine not doing that, and it’s a systemic problem, really. I mean, sometimes let’s consider a busy mom who has two or three kids and she’s also working and most of the burden of the housework and cooking falls on her and so about 8 or 9 p.m. is about the only time of the day where she could check her email or do some stuff that at this point really does involve screen time. So it is tricky for sure. Our job, we can’t really change anyone’s behavior as a clinician. The only thing we can do is explain to them what the effects their behavior has on their condition, and then it’s up to them whether they’re going to change or not change.
Blue-light blockers and then using some of the new settings on iOS and Android that reduce how much blue light is emitted from those devices in the first place, can definitely address the melatonin suppressive effects of blue light completely. But there’s another aspect of using electronic media which I think can disrupt the HPA axis that has nothing to do with blue light, and that’s just the kind of stimulation that using electronic media has on the brain. There’s clicking on links and going from one page to the next and navigating around with electronic media in a two-dimensional screen focusing our eyes on a two-dimensional surface and leaving it there. These probably have effects on the HPA axis that are distinct from melatonin suppression.
So I think, yes, there is still potential for harm, but if the patient’s not going to comply then they’re not going to comply, and you just have to mitigate as much as you can, which it sounds like you’re doing with the glasses and having them use settings and maybe going for a compromise of less use rather than no use at all.