Light Therapy

Brighten the Winter Blues

There’s Hope on the Horizon for S.A.D.

There's Hope on the Horizon for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder has many names. It's called SAD or winter depression. Mild symptoms are called winter blues. And it afflicts millions of Americans of all ages every year. SAD affects work, study, relationships, and our own sense of well-being.

SAD occurs during winter seasons when we are exposed to little light. Researchers have experimented with light therapy as a treatment for several decades. In numerous studies it has been shown that 10,000 LUXThe lux (symbol: lx) is the SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance. It is used in photometry as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a surface. It is analogous to the radiometric unit watts per square metre, but with the power at each wavelength weighted according to the luminosity function, a standardized model of human visual brightness perception. In English, "lux" is used in both singular and plural. light can lift the winter blues.

How? By adjusting the body's biological clock, which gets out of sync when deprived of sufficient exposure to sunlight.

Causes of SAD

Too much melatonin can cause SAD. Melatonin is a brain neurotransmitter that is released during sleep. Sometimes, during the dark days of winter, our body over produces melatonin and it causes us to feel sad. Light therapy can naturally reduce the production of melatonin, and take our blues away.

Quick Facts on SAD released by Mental Health America

  • 3 out of 4 people who suffer from SAD are women. 
  • The primary age group for the onset of SAD is 18-30.
  • SAD is generally found in the far northern and far southern hemispheres, and is most rare among those who live within 30 degrees latitude of the equator. 

Clinical studies show light therapyLight therapy or phototherapy consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light -- by a so-called light box. Light therapy which strikes the retina of the eyes is used to treat circadian rhythm disorders such as delayed sleep phase syndrome and can also be used to treat seasonal affective disorder, with some support for its use also with non-seasonal psychiatric disorders. can help

Dr. Anna Wirz-Justice, of the University of Basel in Switzerland, along with researchers from the Society for Light Treatment & Biological Rhythms, have developed light treatment standards based upon clinical studies. They've also discovered that 3 out of 5 people respond positively to light therapy in just a few days!

Find Out How To Brighten Your Life

Light therapy is safe and easy to use. This advisor will help you time your light therapy sessions.