Light Therapy

It is a known fact that people living in places with an abundance of rain or little sunshine tend to suffer from depression more than other people do, which is why light therapy is so beneficial. For instance, states such as Washington and Alaska show higher rates of depression than states such as California.  Light therapy is a special treatment in which light is used to fight depression. This light is brighter than a standard lamp in the form of a light box that contains fluorescent lighting.

For light therapy to be used, you would need to sit at a specific distance and then be exposed to the light and intensity of light based on your level of depression. Typically, patients using light therapy would sit in front of the light box anywhere from 15 minutes to one hour with the intensity of 2,500 to 10,000 lux, which is 20 times brighter than outdoor sunshine.

If you battle with this type of depression, you could invest in a light box for home use and enjoy amazing results that turn depression into happiness. In fact, light therapy has undergone a number of in-depth studies over the years with incredible findings. For instance, when used at the right time and in the right situation light therapy can actually encourage rapid remission in 80% of cases. Therefore, people living with depression associated with wintertime or lack of sunshine can live a much-improved life.

Experts in the field of light therapy suggest for the greatest benefits, these special lights be used in the morning. The reason is this coincides with timing of about eight hours after the onset of melatonin in the evening or less than three hours after the midpoint of sleep. Since normal sleep is used to reset the body, boosting melatonin levels in the brain, which help a person’s mood, the timing is crucial to success.

One such study consisted of 42 patients, all suffering from winter depression. In this study, the daily plasma melatonin patterns along with symptoms of depression were reviewed and assessed for each person before and after light therapy was used. Using a two-week timeframe, these people were asked to continue their normal sleep and wake times and not to take any medication for depression.

Each person was provided with a 10,000 lux artificial light, which would equal 40 minutes of daylight just after sunrise. The light therapy was used for 30 minutes at a time over the two-week period. For this test, 50% of the patients used therapy in the morning and the other 50% at night. At the conclusion of the study, it was shown the light therapy increased the level of melatonin, which provided improvement in everyone’s level of depression, specifically those who used the morning therapy time.

If you find that you live in an environment that tends to pull you down, creating wintertime or cloudy day depression, light therapy may be something to consider. If you cannot afford your own light box, you will actually find a number of clinics around the country that are now offering light therapy as a part of the overall treatment plan for depression and with excellent results.