A few weeks ago I briefly touched on dealing with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) during the Fall and Winter months. Studies suggest that nearly half a million people in the United States experience winter on-set depression, the majority of which are women. After reading the comments on my own experience I realized that are a lot of women out there are experiencing mood changes that may not understand what is happening to them or how to treat it.
Previously I touched on some of the symptoms which I encourage you to read more about. One source I always trust for medical information is the online Mayo Clinic. They have a great article that discusses the symptoms of SAD. You should look over the list and discuss what you may be feeling with your own doctor.
Since writing about my own feelings of depression I was contacted by Full Spectrum Solutions, a company that specializes in providing quality light therapy products. When I was first diagnosed with SAD, my doctor suggested that I try using a “light box” at home to help with my feelings but I brushed the suggestion off with skepticism. I really had no understanding of how much natural sunlight and light stimulation affects our moods.
How does light therapy combat seasonal affective disorder?
Exposure to bright light from a light therapy box is thought to alter your circadian rhythms and suppress your body’s natural release of melatonin. Together, these cause biochemical changes in your brain that help reduce or control symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and other conditions. – source, Mayo Clinic
My Light Therapy Experience
Now of course, this is my own personal experience with 2 weeks of light therapy use and light therapy hasn’t officially been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder but many mental health providers consider light therapy the main seasonal affective disorder treatment.
Out of the box, the BlueMax Dimable Desk Lamp in nickel is quite a heavy lamp that offers a lot of stability. It has a long, flexible neck so that you can adjust the direction of light to best suit your needs and positioning of the lamp.
This time of year just happened to be perfect for me because with the combination of shorter days, cloudy skies and constant rain, it really leaves me feeling in such an awful mood. The kind of mood where I just want to crawl into bed and sleep it off for hours on end.
Days 1 – 5
At first, I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference in my mood. I was doing my best to fight through the feelings of sadness. What did happen was two things: 1) my sleep schedule dramatically shifted. Instead of staying up until 3am as usual I started feeling very sleepy by 10pm. I also started waking up around 8am. This is a significant change from my 3am to 11am sleep pattern. 2) I experienced headaches in the evening. As with any new treatment, this is a temporary side effect which subsided after day 5 and decreasing my time under the light unit.
Days 6 – present
I can’t really describe it any other way except to say that I’ve felt like “me.” While the weather outside was raining for days on end and not a drop of sunshine, I do know that had I not been using the light therapy lamp I would have been quite depressed. My history with foul weather and fall shows me that. Instead, I spent my days in a pretty good mood, no excess sleeping and even noticed my kids were behaving a bit better. Happy mommy = Happy Children.
Overall, I’m more than satisfied with the light therapy lamp and wishing I had tried one years ago. My only complaint is the initial headaches I experienced, but like I said, this can be eliminated by adjusting the time spent under the lamp and dimming the bulb in the evening hours.
About the BlueMax™ 70w Nickel Dimmable Desk Lamp
BlueMax™ lighting products are a collection of high quality products that produce the highest quality light available today. The BlueMax™ technology was designed based on extensive research throughout the various fields of lighting technology, the science of vision, and human physiological factors.
The products are used for general tasks like reading, studying, and more specific tasks like art work, sewing, making jewelry, crafters, and other hobbies that require good visual acuity and color detail. BlueMax™ products produce the highest visual clarity available and are so powerful that they can also be used as light therapy devices.
- Perfect size for desk use. 18″ tall, lamp head is 12″ long x 6.5″ wide, base is 8.5 x 7 x 1.5″.
- Comes with a lifetime warranty on the lamp and one year on the bulb.
- Powerful, energy-saving 70w lamp produces 4,300 lumens of brilliant full spectrum light equal to 300 watt halogen bulb.
- Can be used for both light therapy and as a high quality task lamp producing 10,000 lux at 18″ and 5,000 lux at 28″.
Buy It
Full Spectrum Solutions offers a large variety of light therapy lamps for your personal needs. The BlueMax dimmable desk lamp comes in white, black, nickel and brass to blend in any room of the home and start at $169.99.
FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by Full Spectrum Solutions for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.
Medical Disclaimer – Prior to the use of any light therapy product you should seek the advice of a licensed physician. The content in this review is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice.
About Cat Davis
I have never heard of SAD or Light therapy! I feel down in the winter as well. I’ll have to check out these symptoms. Thank you Cat!
I’d love to try that! I know I am the worst in Jan-Feb, the coldest and gray-est months here in MI.
When you mentioned this I was curious. I don’t suffer from SAD, but do have bipolar and insomnia. I know how sleep patterns can affect you so if this is getting you a better sleep pattern I am all for it.
Kas
i was actually getting ready to do post on depression too. Especially SAD. Seems like it is really kicking my butt this year. More so then usual. I am so glad this seems to be working for you! I am going to add this to my Christmas list!
OH, and you may want to look into supplementing with 4000iu’s of Vitamin D3. not just Vitamin D but D3. helps depression related to absence of sun, and my achy joints!
Interesting. Who would have guessed that light could make such a big difference? Thanks for sharing your experience with it.
Wow, I knew that SAD had a lot to do with not having sunshine and such but I didn’t think that using a light could fix it. Makes sense though.
Have a wonderful season!
That’s amazing how something like that can change you. Just goes to show that not everything needs to be treated with medication.
I have to have light myself, I can’t seem to be indoors on gloomy days, I need sunshine. I am looking into this myself.. please keep us posted on how it is working.
I’ve been curious about how you were doing with it! So glad to hear!
This REALLY catches my attention. With the weather getting colder, I definitely always notice a “dip” in my emotions. I just feel “blah” and it’s hard to be chipper ya know? I have heard of light therapy before but have never actually done so. This makes me wonder how a light therapy would impact me? My energy is gone right now, I’m hoping to find a way to get myself back on track!
I think I need one of those for the computer desk. I definitely feel like I want to hibernate this time of year until the sun shows itself in the Spring again. I’m glad to hear that it’s had such good results for you. I also wonder if it’d adjust my erratic sleep patterns? Hmmmm. Yep. May have to give one a try.
My husband has a severe (or at least I think so) case of SAD. We go through the mood changes every year. Last year we had a particularly hard winter and my husband holed himself up down in the basement for three days. It was awful. I’ve been eyeing a light therapy lamp that they have at Costco (don’t know if it’s the same brand you’re trying) and after reading this post, I think I’ll go ahead and take the financial plunge. Thanks for bringing this “to light” ; )
What a great idea, i’d love one of these at my desk. The gloomy days can sure bring you down.
What a great idea! I have always felt a bit down in winter so I must try the lamp!
Cat,
Thanks for sharing. In my experience, light therapy is like magic if used consistently. The headaches will subside over time. There are numerous light products on the market; be sure to get one from a reputable manufacturer, preferably one that has participated in SAD research — they will offer a 1-month guarantee. If you’re interested, I will be offering a review of light therapy lamps soon, and much more info on how to successfully manage the winter blues and SAD.
Brighten up the winter!
Best, Marsha
The Winter Blues Coach
http://www.winterbluescoach.com
marsha@winterbluescoach.com
I was wondering how this was going. Thanks for the update! I’m glad to hear that it’s going well for you. I need to try it!
This is wonderful to know! I have a light box and one of those lamps so I’ll have to give it a try.
Thanks for sharing. I have never heard of this until now.
I would love to have my husband try this out. Working in Alaska during the times it’s really cold and dark – this could be a huge help to him!
I have never heard of SAD or Light therapy! I love to know more about it