Feeling extra stressed or overwhelmed? Consider dimming the lights to calm down your nervous system.
Our minds can often be influenced by our environment in many ways without us even realizing it.
We like to think that we have complete control and independence over our mental state, but the truth is a single sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste can completely alter our mood and emotions.
A big part of emotional intelligence is knowing how to regulate these emotions in the moment. This includes not only mental strategies (such as reframing, writing, or labeling), but also knowing how to change our environment to better serve us.
Pay attention to how your environment is influencing you – and find small ways to create an environment that works for you rather than against you.
For example, the brightness of a room can influence how strongly we experience our emotions.
One fascinating new study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology discovered that we feel our emotions more intensely when we are in rooms with “bright lighting” rather than “dim lighting.”
This effect works no matter what emotion you are feeling in that moment.
If you’re happy, then turning the lights brighter will amplify those feelings of happiness; but if you’re stressed or anxious, then turning the lights brighter will also amplify those feelings of stress and anxiety.
This could also explain why some research published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that depressed people are much more likely to commit suicide on sunny days vs. rainy days. For depressed people, long days of sunlight may actually be increasing their feelings of sadness, isolation, and depression.
Why is this? The researchers theorized that:
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“Bright light usually correlates with heat, and heat is linked to emotional intensity. This psychological experience of heat turns on the hot emotional system, intensifying a person’s emotional reactions to any stimulus. Thus, in bright light, good feels better and bad feels worse.”
In essence, bright lighting heightens our emotional arousal regardless of emotional valence (“positive/feel good” vs. “negative/feel bad.”)
The good news is maybe we can use this information to create a little “life hack?”
The next time you’re feeling really stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, consider dimming the lights to help decrease the power of that negative emotion.
Perhaps you’re feeling really heated after an argument, or sad about a breakup, or frustrated from a recent failure? Turn down the lights or go into a less lit environment to see if it helps your feelings to dampen or subside.
It will work even better if you pair it with some relaxing music or meditation to help you put everything into perspective.
Put together, this can create a more relaxing atmosphere to “cool down” your hot emotional system when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Now is this a magic fix for negative emotions? Of course not. It’s just one tool of many in our mental toolbox that we can use to better regulate our mental health.
Try it out for yourself and see how it works for you.
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