My son's meltdowns dropped from 5 a week to maybe 1 after we stopped using overhead lights

About six months ago, I noticed he would always squint and get upset in our kitchen. The big fluorescent light was the only one we used. I read a comment online about light sensitivity and swapped it for three small table lamps. The change was almost instant. He started sitting at the table to eat without covering his ears or crying. I had no idea something so simple in our house was causing that much stress. Has anyone else had a big change from just adjusting the lights in a room?

3 comments

3 Comments

calebw503mo ago

Wait, fluorescent lights are the worst for that, right? I thought it was the flicker that gets people, not just the brightness.

shanel133mo ago

Oh totally, the flicker is the worst part (it's like a low hum for your eyes). I get a headache after like 20 minutes under those things.

sean_park82mo ago

Yeah, "low hum for your eyes" is dead-on (never heard it put that way before, but it makes total sense). The thing nobody mentions though is that the flicker actually interacts with screens. If you're on a laptop under fluorescents, the refresh rates can fight each other, making both seem worse than they are alone. That's why some people get wrecked in offices but feel fine under the same bulbs at home with nothing else digital going. So it's not just the lights themselves, it's the whole setup working against you (which is kinda wild to think about).