Okay, folks, we got three days until Armageddon for depressives: Daylight Savings Time. Time to pull out the HappyLites!
In case you think I'm making up all this stuff about less light leading to depression, especially in the winter months, I will quote a woman with much more medical knowledge and expertise than me: Karen Swartz, M.D., Director of Clinical Programs at the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, and one of the physicians who evaluated me when I was severely depressed in March of 2006.
Here's what she says in a special report as part of the Fall 2007 Johns Hopkins Depression and Anxiety Bulletin called "Getting Relief From Light Therapy":
Some people experience episodes of depression only during the winter months, particularly January and February, when there is less sunlight--thus the name "winter depression," or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Typically, symptoms of depression peak in the winter and recede in the spring.
As seasons change, so does the amount of daily sunlight, which in turn causes changes in the body's internal biological clock, known as circadian rhythm. This rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that affects our eating and sleeping patterns, brain wave activity, hormone production, and other biological activities. In some people, less daily sunlight and changes in circadian rhythm can bring about depression.
One theory is that the relative lack of sunlight during these times may alter brain levels of certain mood-related chemicals, for example, increasing levels of the hormone melatonin.
People with SAD often eat and sleep excessively, crave sugary or starchy foods, and have a full remission in the spring and summer when more daily sunlight is available.
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Exactly why I vote for hibernation..Wake me when it's over!
yourname,
u r very lucky and should be grateful u got arthitis as late as 33!! i was just 20!! i was in college. be grateful!!
SAD lights do not work because they do not solve the problem of getting Vitamin D because they have no UVB light. A tanning bed works because it provides UVB light and causes your body to produce Vitamin D. This is proven by my experience. Just use the tanning bed carefully and in moderation. Many of our health problems are caused by lack of Vitamin D due to low exposure to sunlight (UVB).
SAD is a fact of life. And, there is non-medicinal intervention such as the light you have described, available. It is a real condition, and needs sympathy or at least empathy, and not an admonishment to use will-power and shake yourself out of it.
There is, however, a flip side to this coin, particularly in warmer climes and that is, at the other end of the spectrum. For many sufferers of Bipolar Disorder, the advent of summer marks the advent of Hypomania, which if left untreated can lead to mania, and eventually psychosis.
This begins off in a lot of excitement but believe me if untreated can be disastrous!
I see a lot of advertisements for the goLITE Blu lately which appears to be smaller than most regular light therapy boxes and has LEDs instead of fluorescent lights that appear to last forever. This video looks really cool http://www.sadlightshop.com/lighttherapy/philips-golite-blu/ and I really want one but the price is a bit steep for me. Which light should I get, or will a trip to the tanning salon suffice?
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