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Posted on Mar 2, 2020

Turn On Your Lightbox To Turn Off Seasonal Affective Disorder

They call ‘em SAD lights for a reason, y’know?

by Jessica Klein

BuzzFeed Contributor

Gramercy Pictures / Via giphy.com

Bad sleep equals bad mood, and for years, researchers have suggested that light therapy could ward off depression and help people cope with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a fall- and winter-specific depression that comes and goes with the seasons.

Light therapy studies date back to the ‘80s, and today, it’s perfectly normal to acknowledge that the darkness of winter can make us depressed. “Biologically, what may be going on [during winter depression] is a disruption of the circadian rhythm,” says Dr. Craig Sawchuk, a psychologist at the Mayo Clinic and SAD expert. Earlier sunsets mean your body starts producing melatonin earlier in the day, so you start feeling tired long before bedtime. Light therapy can help counteract this.

Columbia Pictures / Via giphy.com

According to Sawchuk, there’s also the serotonin factor. The neurotransmitter has numerous effects on mood, appetite, and energy level — all of which are thrown out of whack in those who experience SAD or the less-than-clinical winter blues. “We don’t know exactly what’s going on,” he explains. “The brain is a complicated thing, but those are some of the most likely culprits from a biological standpoint.”

Sawchuk recommends using light therapy to treat seasonal depression because it’s “not invasive.” It works on SAD patients who may not want to take medication for depression that only comes during part of the year, and it works for those who grow listless in the winter and aren’t interested in medicine. It’s also cost-effective. “You can get a decent lightbox for between $40 and $100,” says Sawchuk. The only cons, really, come up for people who are particularly light-sensitive. For them, lightboxes may trigger eyestrain, headaches, or migraines.

Buena Vista Pictures / Via giphy.com

To practice light therapy, Sawchuk suggests turning on your lightbox within the first hour of waking up. “That ties into the biology of getting that circadian rhythm going,” he says. It also brings up scheduling issues. If you have kids to get to school early in the morning or irregular work shifts, maintaining a regular date with your lightbox can be difficult. You’ll want to keep the lightbox about 3 feet away from you, and don’t close your eyes; it’s important for you to see the light, but there’s no need to stare directly into it, lest you’re asking for a headache.

Sold on light therapy? Here are some lightboxes to get you started. For the “best return in the shortest amount of time,” Sawchuck recommends buying lightboxes with 10,000-lux light intensity (all of the following products have this). He also cautions that “expensive does not equal quality.”