Flickering Fluorescent Light Bulbs and "Going Green" – and the Weird Science of Seeing Ghosts?

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have a flickering or strobe effect for some people. "Going green" can be physically painful if you're brain is wired to see these ghosts, suffer migraines, or have epilepsy but for those "encouraging" the usage of CFL's, little is said on this issue.

Finally! The last of my CFLs burned out and while everyone else is jumping on the "green" bandwagon I’ve been on for years, I’ve had to jump off when it comes to lighting in my house and office. I’m back to the energy hogs that don’t save the environment or money, but save my eyes. Before you pass judgment, here’s why and what you may not have heard of:

Years ago, I replaced all the bulbs in my house with expensive fluorescents,responsible conservationist that I am. It wasn’t long before I noticed that my eyes were always tired and everything seemed to flicker and fade in the lamp light, even if it was softer lamp light and high-quality bulbs. (This tiring strobe effect became even more pronounced when I switched to multi-focus contact lenses and was able to see both close-up and at a distance perfectly with the new prescription.) My employer changed to lowest-bidder fluorescent light bulbs and my eyesight seemed to deteriorate -- at work. I would sit in meetings and everything around me would “wash out” in beige or I’d see vibrations in the lights. No one else seemed to have this problem.

I’ve noticed this wash-out vision "vibration" problem more often recently, especially in public places that have "gone green." It’s about as annoying as having a constant low-dose stream of electricity attached to my temples, and wears me down. My eyes feel fatigued and I have headaches in these places, but I couldn’t pinpoint the cause ... and too many neo-environmentalists have been screeching at me -- tree-hugger that I’ve always been -- to ditch my incandescent bulbs or I’m some kind of sinner or planet terrorist or maybe both. If they don't have this problem, they don't seem to mind trying to force me to deal with it.

At a routine visit to my optometrist, I was making small talk and kidding him about needing to change his light bulbs, which were flickering like crazy in one place and vibrating like a Jack Rabbit in the other. He seemed surprised and asked if I saw them flickering. Well, yeah, of course. Didn’t he?

Er…no. "Critical fusion frequency," he diagnosed with a knowing nod.

He went on to explain that regular incandescent bulbs glow whereas energy cycles through fluorescent light bulbs at, he thought, around 60 cycles per second. However, for some people, our brains are wired a little different and we can perceive the cycles. They move. He pointed out that the more expensive fluorescent light bulbs (which his were) are generally at a higher cycle rate and not as tiresome to the eye because they are perceived as steady light. Not to me.

To me, he had two strobe lights a la Saturday Night Fever’s disco ball. And no, I don’t have epilepsy or migraines, though people who suffer from either also have major issues with fluorescent light bulbs.

So my brain is wired weird and I see flickers and vibrations where most other people don’t, even if the fluorescents make their eyes inexplicably tired. And since we’ve established, courtesy of my eye doctor, that my brain is indeed wired differently, I might as well put this on the table:

If a small percentage of the population can discern movements of energy that most people never realize are there, who’s to say that seeing ghosts, auras, and other patterns of energy is such a silly thing to suggest?

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