Sleeping problems? Music and light therapy can ease insomnia and help you get a good night's rest

HONG KONG — Mr Wilson Tan did not want to disclose his real name, or have his photo published. He's worried his boss would discover that he goes to bed each morning around 4am — and think he is unfit for work.

"My boss isn't flexible with my work hours," says the 29-year-old graphic designer about his 10.30am start. "That's why I moved closer to my office, so I could reduce my commute time."

Mr Tan lives in North Point, on Hong Kong Island, with his girlfriend who, on most nights, goes to bed around midnight, while Mr Tan stays up playing games and making music. "It's a vicious cycle that I can't break," says Mr Tan, who has battled insomnia since he was a teenager.

Sleep is vital for physical and mental health, with adults requiring between seven and nine hours a night, and more for babies, young children and teens.

Even an afternoon power nap is good for the mind, according to research published last week in the journal General Psychiatry. It surveyed more than 2,000 elderly people in China and found those who took an after-lunch nap had significantly higher cognitive performance than those who did not.

But in a pressure-cooker city such as Hong Kong — which has some of the longest working hours in the world — sleep, for some like Mr Tan, does not come easy.

While exercise and reduced screen time on our electronic devices are ways to help people sleep, some turn to apps such as Sacred Acoustics, recommended by Mr Lawrence Tredrea of Central's Integrated Medicine Institute. For others, music is an essential sleeping companion.

"Music that gets you out of a stressed state and puts you in a calming state essentially helps to modulate hormones and neurotransmitters that assist with better quality sleep," Mr Tredrea says.

"There is specific music that focuses on binaural beats that help with meditation and influencing brain waves." He adds that white noise can also help drown out disturbing background sounds that can keep a person awake.

Mr Tan says he has cut out alcohol and caffeine and had hypnotherapy. Ironically, he is too tired to do regular exercise.

He finds it hard to concentrate at work, feels depressed, and admits to having a short fuse with his girlfriend, friends and colleagues. He's worried about his health - and for good reason.

A 2018 study of about 433,000 adults that looked at the relationship between health and bedtime habits found those who went to bed late and rose late were 10 per cent more likely to die prematurely compared to "morning people". Their risk of developing diabetes was also higher.

But for night owls like Mr Tan, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Last week the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and University of Hong Kong released a study that found shining bright light on "night owls" can reduce depression by altering their circadian rhythm, or biological clock, that not only influences our sleep, but also our mood, cognitive performance, and many physiological and endocrine functions.

The research team recruited 93 patients with depression, all of whom went to bed around 2am and woke after 10am. Half the patients had a bright light that mimics natural outdoor light shine on them as soon as they woke up, for 30 minutes every day for five weeks.

The treatment starting time was gradually moved back over the period. The other half of the patients, in the control group, had much dimmer lights shine on them.

More than 60 per cent of the patients who had bright light therapy showed significant improvement in their symptoms. They also responded better to their medication. The results were published in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Professor Yun Kwok-wing, chairman of the psychiatry department at CUHK, says bright light therapy has unique therapeutic features in regularising the circadian rhythm and improving mood and sleep.

"This study shows that using properly timed bright light as a non-pharmacological intervention has an important place in the treatment of depression," he says. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST