Winter light therapy lights

[Hilltopmom]

Do they work? Any kind to look for or avoid?

How do you use yours?

 

Thinking we could set it on the table during tea time & art time (these happen several times a day usually) closest to the person who needs it the most.

Two of us deal with depression & it's dark a lot of the year up north here.

(& our house is solar powered, so we don't have many indoor lights, but can get enough power to run it when needed- we have alternate ways of charging our system)

 

Our big warehouse store had them last night & thinking of going back to snag one.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 23, 2015 by Hilltopmom

[Faithr]

My son suffers from SAD.  His psychiatrist says to use it first thing in the a.m. for 20-30 minutes.  The light shouldn't be shining directly in your eyes but from an angle it should be hitting your pupil.  You should not use it later in the day and you should not use it longer than 20 to 30 minutes as it can mess with your circadian rhythms and even cause mania (if you've got tendencies anyway).  

 

My son uses it first thing in the a.m.  He gets on the computer for 30 minutes and has the lamp right there by him.  Ours is from Full Spectrum Solutions.

 

Also, it takes a while for this to be effective.  My son's doctor said start in October and be consistent and it will help in December and January - so you won't see immediate results.

[Arctic Bunny]

I bought a Phillips golight for when we lived in the Arctic, and we still use it. Truly only use it in the morning. When we were in 24 hour darkness, I would use it around 1pm, just to get through the day, but if the kids ever used it after about 10am, they'd be up until all hours of the night. We use it during breakfast. I can tell there's an immediate effect of not being so tired all day.

[forty-two]

My son suffers from SAD.  His psychiatrist says to use it first thing in the a.m. for 20-30 minutes.  The light shouldn't be shining directly in your eyes but from an angle it should be hitting your pupil.  You should not use it later in the day and you should not use it longer than 20 to 30 minutes as it can mess with your circadian rhythms and even cause mania (if you've got tendencies anyway).  

 

My son uses it first thing in the a.m.  He gets on the computer for 30 minutes and has the lamp right there by him.  Ours is from Full Spectrum Solutions.

 

Also, it takes a while for this to be effective.  My son's doctor said start in October and be consistent and it will help in December and January - so you won't see immediate results.

 

All this, although I had results in about a month of consistent use, starting in mid-Oct.  (Next year I'm starting at the equinox, *before* problems start.)

 

From what I read, 20-30min/day is sitting 12 in away from a 10,000 lux light (with the light shining down at a 15 deg angle).  If you are farther away from the light, or using a less bright light, the time goes up.

 

I recently got a lamp, and in my research I ran across the Canadian Consensus Guidelines for the Treatment of SAD, which included a discussion on the risks of ocular damage. Ultraviolet light and direct gazing at blue light (particularly an issue with halogen lights) were associated with potential eye damage, but fluorescent lamps with UV filtering were generally safe, so that was what I went with. There wasn't a lot of research on LED lights, so I avoided those, plus I wanted to avoid directly gazing into the light as much as possible, so I got a lamp that shines down, instead of one that shines up. The linked paper also had a list of which sorts of eye conditions put people at particular risk for eye damage, and recommended that those people get an ophthalmologist exam prior to starting light therapy.

 

The four basic parameters wrt effective light treatment that the above linked paper talked about were light intensity, light wavelength, duration of daily exposure, and timing of daily exposure. Light intensity ought to be 2,500 lux or above, and the higher the lux, the less duration was needed (I got a 10,000 lux lamp, which needs a daily 30 min session to get a sufficient "dose" of light; 2,500 lux lamps require 2 hours a day). Wrt light wavelength, both broad-spectrum fluorescent lights and cool-white fluorescent lights have been shown to be effective. Timing-wise, there's debate over one morning session or a morning and evening session; I've been doing one morning session right after I get up, and it has reset my circadian rhythm some - getting up in the morning is easier now.

 

Anyway, I got this lamp: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Daylight-Sky-for-Optimal-Therapy-DL200US/204497298 and I've been pleased with it so far (used it for two months now).  I was starting to spiral down when I started in mid-Oct, and it's made it easier to get up in the mornings, and overall I'm feeling much more "normal" and generally *me* than I have in past winters - with this (plus exercise, eating right, and enough sleep), I've been staying on a fairly even keel and haven't had to much trouble staying productive.

Edited December 23, 2015 by forty-two

[Word Nerd]

Ultraviolet light and direct gazing at blue light (particularly an issue with halogen lights) were associated with potential eye damage, but fluorescent lamps with UV filtering were generally safe, so that was what I went with. 

 

I have one of the blue lights. You aren't supposed to look directly at the light anyway, and the instructions are pretty clear about that.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Word Nerd

[forty-two]

I have one of the blue lights. You aren't supposed to look directly at the light anyway, and the instructions are pretty clear about that.

 

IDK, I've got eye troubles as it is, and I've got little kids who are running around while I use my light (and who might look right at it) - just didn't want to risk it, kwim? 

[dirty ethel rackham]

I have one.  It's a Happy Light.  Don't waste your money on anything less than 10,000 lumens.  It works best if you start it before the days get shorter.  You also need to be consistent.  If you are the type that has trouble falling asleep, using the light early in the day is less likely to interfere with sleep. 

 

When I start the light therapy in October, and I am consistent, I am much more likely to be able to keep up with it.  But, if I am not consistent, then my energy levels wane so much that I don't have the energy to keep up with regular self-car like this.  (Like this winter.  I swear, I need a mommy to do this for me so that I can manage the rest of my life.) 

[mommymonster]

I have one from the Sun Box Company (sunbox.com), and I love it. It is the reason I get out of bed in the morning this time of year. I sit by it for about 30 minutes in the morning, and it really helps.