This Little Light of Mine: Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Now that fall/autumn is upon us, I’m finding myself complaining more and more about the rain, the dark clouds, the complete lack of sunshine. I swear it’s been raining at least four of the past seven days, and the other days this week were cloudy and gray. The season of change is here: dismal rain leads to darker, colder days. This is the time of year when many become depressed.

If you suffer from the winter blues (or Seasonal Affective Disorder), know that you are not alone. It is a serious form of depression that occurs once a year, mainly in the winter months. It is characterized by decreased energy, probably most often in the afternoons; feelings of moodiness, sadness, hopelessness; excessive sleeping or insomnia; carbohydrate cravings, weight gain and over-eating, among other symptoms.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is believed to be caused by the shorter daylight hours that occur in the winter, especially in the northern states and Canada. Without sunlight, the brain doesn't produce enough serotonin, which results in the symptoms of depression. The darker winter days also signal the brain to overproduce the hibernation hormone, melatonin.

For those of you who suffer from this seasonal depression, there's a unique therapy that you may not have heard of: light therapy. Light therapy has been shown to successfully treat the symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

A person only needs to sit or work near a light therapy box for approximately 30 minutes or more a day to gain results. The light therapy box gives off a bright, intense, artificial light that copies natural outdoor light. This light exposure is believed to modify your circadian rhythms and suppress your body's natural release of melatonin. It has been proven to be quite effective in easing the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Case in point: when I was younger, my sister who used to tan in a tanning bed every winter to keep her summer glow, got me interested one year. I tried it, but always kept my face covered in the booths so as not to burn or age my skin. Every time I left the tanning salon after a session, I felt recharged and less depressed. It was because of the intense light exposure; however, I don't recommend using a tanning bed to relieve your depression since it can cause skin cancer. And, although light therapy boxes have some side effects, I believe they are much safer than a tanning bed.

Light Therapy Studies

Here are some light therapy studies that I found:

In a controlled trial, 96 patients with SAD were treated with light at 6,000 lux for 1.5 hours in either morning or evening, or with a sham negative ion generator, which was used as the placebo. After three weeks of treatment, morning light produced complete or near-complete remission for 61% of patients, while evening light helped 50%, and placebo helped 32%. (1)

In a second study, it was found that morning light had more antidepressant activity than evening light for people with SAD. This study also found that patterns of melatonin production were altered in seasonal depression, and that morning light therapy shifted this pattern toward those of control subjects who did not have seasonal depression. (2)

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If you believe you are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or any kind of depression, I encourage you to consult with your doctor immediately to discuss your treatment options. And, discuss the possibility of using light therapy. You may discover that having a little light of your own is just what the doctor ordered.



~Darcie (DarC) Baker~
Catch her column every Sunday...or read more of her posts now!

References

1. Eastman CI, Young MA, Fogg LF, et al. Bright light treatment of winter depression: a placebo-controlled trial. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:883–9.
2. Lewy AJ, Bauer VK, Cutler NL, et al. Morning vs evening light treatment of patients with winter depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:890–6. Posted by DarC