Light Boxes

[pongeroon]

Hello folks.

Does anyone have any experience of using a light box to combat seasonal affective disorder (winter depression)?

My OH has had this the last two years and really doesn't want to go onto medication for it. He's getting stressed out already by the thought of the symptoms setting in (it began around late September last year) and I wondered if a light box might help.

Any thoughts??

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Pongeroon, i'm afraid i can not offer any advice on the light box, but my sympathies are with your O.H, as it must be horrible dreading the longer dark evenings.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Pongeroon, I have seen some people respond quite well to those but a three pronged approach is better, another thing that helps is physical excercise it releases endorphins, that help you feel good, Lastly a refined and fast food diet does not help depression, here is a link that explains foods that can boost mood and help fight depression

http://www.ireallylikefood.com/73883520 ... epression/

finally if he gets very depressed seek medical help

Hope this is helpful to him, I wish him well.

[haggis]

Hi Pongeroon,
One of my colleagues uses a light box at work during the winter months and finds it quite effective.
Haggis

[pongeroon]

Thank you all for your input. It does puzzle me a bit, because he works outdoors, so gets all the light there is, though of course we all feel fed up on those grey endless days.
We have a healthy diet, and he exercises a lot as well as being active at work. I always know when he is having bad days because he says he will go and see the GP 'in a day or two'. By which time he is on the up again, so far. And at our surgery it is very much pot luck with the doctors, and I've never seen the same one twice. But that is a whole different subject....
Anyway, I think a light box can do no harm, and might perk us both up on long winter evenings.

[MikA]

I too suffer from SAD and this has been helped by changing all the light bulbs in the living, bed an work rooms to the "Daylight" bulbs. They give a blue light which is supposed to mimic sunlight. Once you are used to them, they make old yellow bulbs look dingy.

Try one and see how it goes. They sre more expensive than ordinary but probably less expensive than a lightbox.

MikA

[Nature's Babe]

That sounds like a practical idea MikA, I might try those in my elderly Mum's rooms, as she refuses to sit on the decking for longer than 5 mins and gets very little natural daylight.

[Diane]

I suffer from SAD too and a few years ago I put a daylight bulb into my bedside lamp (for reading). I switch it on first thing (when it's the darker mornings) and again at night when I go to bed. I usually read for about half an hour / to an hour - and the daylight bulb made a huge difference during the winter. I'm a very 'outdoorsy' person, whatever the season - even during the colder months I get out into the garden. Using the daylight bulb at nighttime has fooled my brain into thinking it's getting it's full summer time quota.