Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD Therapy Guide

8/14/2019 Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD Therapy Guide

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SadTherapyLamps.com 1

BEATING SeasonalAffective Disorer(SAD) GUIDEBOOK

Nancy Whitman



Beating Seaonal Affective Disorder Guidebook

This guide is an excerpt from our full ebook available athttp://sadtherapylamps.com

If you’ve spent every winter as far back as you can remember being exhausted . . .

If you have a much harder time focusing on tasks at work and at home . . .

If your boss raves about your performance half the year and complains when theweather turns cold . . .

If you start relationships in the spring and summer that never last through thewinter . . .

If you sleep far more often in the winter and have a hard time getting out of bed . . .

If your sex drive goes into hibernation along with the bears . . .

If you have no interest in activities that you love during the spring and summer . . .

You may have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

And now that you have this book, there’s a way to make all those dark feelings of depression disappear. Forever.


http://sadtherapylamps.com/







Part I: What is SAD?

What Causes Winter Depression?

Who is Most Susceptible to SAD?

The Use of Light as TherapyGot the Winter Blues? No Cause for Alarm

Part II: Diagnosing SAD

Types of SAD

Feeling SAD at Work

SAD at Home

A SAD Sex Drive is a Terrible Thing

SAD Patients and Sadness: The Road to DepressionI Think I Might Have SAD. What Should I Do?

Part III: Treating SAD

Light Therapy

How Does Light Therapy Work?

Starting Light Therapy on Your Own: The Right Light Box

When to Do Light Therapy

Where Can I Find Proper Light Boxes?

Rising at the Crack of Dawn – Simulator

Other Uses for Light Therapy

Someone to Listen: Psychotherapy as Treatment

Prescription Medications for SAD: Pros and Cons

Part IV: Adjusting Your Lifestyle Around SAD

How Do I Incorporate Light Therapy Into My Home Life?

What Should I Do During Light Therapy Sessions?

Light Therapy on the Go

Conclusion: A Life Less SAD






Disclaimer: This book is designed to outline and describe the symptoms of SAD and the benefits of light

therapy only and is in no way a substitute for consulting your physician or a medical professional. The

publisher and writer is not responsible for any harm or negative consequences that may result from

using the ideas and potential remedies in this book. The reader is advised to use common sense in

treating themselves and to always consult a physician for any serious depression or severe ailments.






SadTherapyLamps.com 5What is SAD?



Part I: What is SAD?

Seasonal Affective Disorder is simply a mood disorder that is based on the changeof the seasons. People with SAD experience extreme periods of depression only at

certain times of year, usually in the winter. Throughout the remainder of the year, they may experience no mood problems whatsoever.

The way SAD is distinct from other forms of depression and mood disorders is itsdependence on the changing of the seasons. As the winter months approach, they find themselves unable to get out of bed or perform the simplest tasks. They oftenfeel lethargic, depressed, and completely uninterested in the world around them.

When spring comes again, SAD patients rever t back to their normal lifestyle. They may be completely unaware that their behavior has undergone a seriously drastic

change, only noting that they dislike the winter months and that they always feelworse then. The idea that their symptoms are psychologically related to the seasonsoften doesn’t occur to them.

SAD has only recently entered common vernacular, and many therapists aren’t yetequipped to recognize the symptoms. Through this section of the book. we’ll teachyou everything you need to know about SAD – and a little extra.






What Causes Winter Depression?

Most people experience an extremely mild form of SAD generally referred to as the “winter blahs” or the “winter blues”, and its origins are biological. Think about it – we’ve only had the ability to monitor our environments to ideally suit humans for about a hundred years. That means our bodies still take their cue on what they should be doing from the outside world.

In wintertime, food is supposed to be scarce, which means your body wants toconserve as many calories as possible in order to survive. This is why people oftenput on weight in the winter. They crave carbohydrates and store more fat thanusual. Their bodies are trying to protect them from the lean times of winter andmake sure they have enough calories to get through a spell of no food.

It also explains why we need more sleep in the winter. You burn far fewer calories

while sleeping than while running around, and your body encourages this lethargicbehavior as a survival tactic. If your body has a lot of calories stored in the form of fat and isn’t burning a lot of calories on physical activity, then you’re going to get

through the winter just fine.

This is all perfectly normal, but SAD patients experience these symptoms to anoverwhelming, and unhealthy degree. Instead of simply craving more carbohydrate-laden foods than usual, they binge eat. Instead of being a little less energetic than

they are during the rest of the year, they may find it near-impossible to drag themselves out of bed. It’s your basic winter blahs taken to the extreme – and it can

be crippling.






Who is Most Susceptible to SAD?

Overwhelmingly, SAD patients are women, usually between 20-40 years old. Though there is no conclusive research on why women are more susceptible than men, itmay have something to do with the regular cycling of estrogen and progesterone

that women experience when they are still fertile. After menopause, women whohad previously experienced SAD symptoms often showed a marked improvement.

The other susceptibility factor is – and this should come as little surprise – location.Moving from a very sunny place to a locale that features clouds most of the year canhave a marked effect on the likelihood that someone will develop SAD symptoms.That said, people who have lived in a colder, darker climate all their lives may bemore likely to develop SAD. There are many more people who have SADsymptoms in New England than in Florida or California, for example.

More important than each individual person’s lifetime experience with changes inlight and exposure to sunlight may be their genetics. Many people who live incountries that receive no sunlight at all for significant periods of time have fewer cases of SAD than the northern climes of the United States, for example. This may simply be because they have developed the genetic imperative to withstand lightdeprivation over many centuries, while more recent immigrants have not.

People who have recently moved to a completely different climate are moresusceptible to SAD than those who stay in the same climate for their whole lives.Because it is fairly common for college-age students to transfer to a locale totally

opposite from their own, college students who move may be more susceptible toSAD than their peers who stay near home.






The Use of Light as Therapy

Light has been used as therapy for depressed people since the time of ancientGreece. One of the most legendary Greek physicians, Arataeus, wrote a the mostrespected medicinal treatise on proper diagnosis and treatment of his day, andadmonished, “Lethargics are to be laid in the light and exposed to the rays of thesun – for the disease is gloom.”

Arataeus’ conjectures are backed up by modern medicine. “Gloom” can indeed be treated by light, and the closer that light resembles the sun, the better. Light treatment for patients of SAD basically attempts to mimic the light exposure peoplenormally get during the summer months. In the winter, when there are fewer hoursof sunlight, SAD patients use light boxes to extend the daylight hours artificially.

If sunlight is a natural buoy to our minds, the absence of that bliss-inducing light can

be depressing. While some people withstand the difference in light very easily throughout the year’s seasons, others are extremely susceptible to it – far more so than they are affected by changes in the temperature. So far, no single factor has hadas much of an effect on SAD symptoms as light.

For SAD patients, light is administered much like a medication, in controlled dosesover a certain period of time. Strange though it may sound, light is a legitimate way

to treat SAD patients. It must be the right kind of light, administered under theproper conditions, but SAD patients have found it to be more or equally beneficial

to therapy and prescription medication.

We’ll discuss the use of light therapy at greater length in Part III, which focuses on treatment of SAD.






SadTherapyLamps.com 10Diagnosing SAD



Part II: Diagnosing SAD

Understanding what SAD is and being able to recognize the symptoms in yourself or in others are two very different things. In this section, we describe in detail someof the changes you may see in yourself during the winter months, including changesin your mental state, your work life, your home life, your dietary habits, your sex life,and your mood and personality.

It’s important to consider these sections for both winter-onset and summer-onsetSAD. Very few people experience both, and even fewer experience winter-onsetSAD as well as reverse SAD. If you find that either winter onset, summer onset, or reverse SAD symptoms consistently apply to you, it’s well worth looking into light

therapy as a treatment.

Since winter onset SAD is the most common form of SAD, you’ll find that the

majority of the information focuses on those symptoms.

We also tackle the difficult issue of kids and teens with SAD. Since children and teenagers are in a fair ly constant state of flux, going through “phases” andexperiencing regular mood swings, it can be especially hard to diagnose in theyounger set. However, being able to successfully identify SAD symptoms in childrenand teens and get them the therapy they need often helps improve those behavioralchanges that you may have thought were simply part of growing up.

As a basic star ting primer, here are some of the symptoms that are overwhelmingly

experienced by most SAD patients in general. After this overview, we’ll move on toways you can recognize these symptoms in different realms of your everyday life. For example, ‘depression’ is a general term, but feeling depressed at work may mean thatyou avoid your colleagues, spend a lot of time finding places where you can bealone, shirk your assignments, and don’t care much when you’re reprimanded.

If after reading this section, you’re pretty sure what you’re experiencing is SAD, don’tworry. The Treating SAD section deals with treatments that are available and havebeen highly beneficial to lots of people just like you.






Types of SAD

These are some of the symptoms you can expect to find in most aspects of your life. If you find that you’re out of sor ts during the winter, pay particular attention towinter-onset SAD. If you find that summer is especially difficult for you, see if your symptoms match up with summer-onset SAD. Finally, if you feel great during thespring and summer but other people find you difficult to deal with, check thesymptoms for reverse SAD.

Winter-Onset SAD

✓ Depression during winter months but not during the rest of the year

✓ Lack of interest in activities they enjoy during the summer months

✓ Fatigue and low energy, often leading to tasks undone at work and at home

✓ Oversleeping, anywhere from 2-8 hours more than they sleep during

summer✓ Overeating, particularly sweet and starchy foods, which usually results in

weight gain

✓ Thoughts of suicide or despair

Summer-Onset SAD

✓ Irritability and anxiety about matters that wouldn’t trouble them in winter

✓ Aggressiveness and lack of caution in situations of potential danger

✓ Insomnia, sleeping far fewer hours than they do in the winter

✓ Increased sex drive and a lack of rationale about appropriate sexualbehavior

✓ Poor appetite, even for foods they usually crave, usually resulting in weightloss

✓ Thoughts of suicide or self-harm

Reverse SAD

✓ Unnatural euphoria

✓ Hyperactivity

✓ Increased social interaction✓ Enthusiasm out of proportion to the situation

✓ Overdeveloped sex drive

In extreme cases, they may also feel aggressive and have the illusion that they areinvulnerable to harm.






Feeling SAD at Work

Having SAD symptoms at work can have an immediate impact on your quality of life. If your boss is not understanding of your seasonal swings in productivity, it’sentirely possible to get fired – which is a foolish consequence considering a remedy

is easily available. Of course, losing one’s job is not likely to enhance feelings of depression, so if your work life takes a hard hit every time the snow starts to fall,light therapy is well worth trying.

The changing work environment may actually be one of the factors that contributes to adults feeling the symptoms of SAD. If you had lived a hundred years ago, oddswere pretty good that you worked outside, soaking up all the sunshine that wasavailable any given day of the year. Now, you probably work in a cubicle in an officebuilding, or at the very least indoors. Most people don’t even have the benefit of working by a window, so they never have light that actually falls on their face.

In the summer months, you go to work and leave work when it’s still light outside,and you can enjoy several hours of sunshine outside of work hours. In winter,however, you probably get to work just as the sun is rising and leave just as it’ssetting. While you’re working, you obviously don’t get any contact with the sun at allduring the hours of its greatest force. No wonder you don’t get enough light!

Work is often one of the easiest places to spot your SAD symptoms, since there arelots of people who will notice a change in your productivity and your generalbehavior. If your boss or colleagues start asking you if you’re all right, if you’re feelingsick, or if you’re tired more frequently in the winter than in the summer, somethingmay be wrong. This is especially true if you find people ask you if you’re tired when

you know perfectly well that you’ve had more than your usual number of hours of sleep.

If you catch yourself dozing at work or find that your productivity is way down, these are signs of SAD that are easy to monitor at work. You can see your performance during the summer and compare it to your performance in the winter

– if there’s a big difference, you may have SAD.

If you’ve lost jobs in the past because you couldn’t drag yourself out of bed to go towork in the morning, think back. Were all of the times you felt that exhausted in thewinter? If so, SAD is a good bet. If you have to get your spouse to pry you out of

bed during the winter months now, look into light therapy immediately, before itbecomes a problem your boss can no longer accept.

The good news? Many people benefit from light therapy even if they don’t have full-blown SAD symptoms. Tell your boss all about the benefits and see if he’d be open

to a little office-wide light therapy during the winter months. Increased productivity,more alert employees, and better focus – what boss can argue with those benefitsin the workplace?






SAD at Home

Strangely, the people who know us best are sometimes the last to realize that our personalities are changing due to an outside force, not an act of personal will. If youusually do the dishes but leave them undone consistently in the winter months, your spouse may simply think you’ve become lazy. She may not notice this is only aproblem during winter – she’ll just be upset that it’s become a problem again, whenshe thought you’d already had this discussion.

The same goes for spending time with your spouse. If you’re not inclined to go out together to events or to friend’s houses, your husband may simply think that you’reangry at him about something. He won’t necessarily tie your feelings of disinterest toan external force. He’ll think he did something wrong, and that can lead to a lot of misunderstandings.

Often, couples fight regular ly about the same things over and over. Throughout your marriage, some of the fights you have with your spouse could be directly related toyour SAD, and you’d never have made the connection. The good news is that if youdetermine that SAD is your problem, you may never have to have that fight again!

To figure out if you have SAD symptoms, think about the disputes you most oftenhave with your spouse. Do you always forget to pay the bills in the winter time? Doyou become especially hypercritical in the summer? Do you always fight during theholidays because you don’t have the energy to travel and visit relatives? If you find

there are consistent seasonal patterns to your disputes, SAD is a good bet.

Take note of your sleeping patterns as well. If you find that you have no problembouncing out of bed in the summer, but can’t be dragged out of there without atleast twelve hours of sleep in the winter, SAD may be your problem. If youexperience insomnia in the summertime, summer-onset SAD is a good bet. Don’tdiscount it because you have trouble sleeping in the heat; if you have other symptoms as well, you may find out that light therapy can actually help you sleepeven when the humidity is terrible.

Finally, think about how you feel about your house itself. If you find that you avoid

certain rooms during different times of the year, ask yourself why that is. If you likespending time in the living room during the summer but prefer the kitchen in thewinter, is there a different availability of light in each of those rooms? It’s possible youprefer the kitchen because it gets lots of sunlight in the winter, for example. Take aglance back over the last three years and see what patterns you can discern around

the home.






A SAD Sex Drive is a Terrible Thing

One aspect of domestic life we haven’t mentioned yet is your sex life, but that’sbecause it’s worthy of a whole separate section. Depression in general often lowers

the sex drive significantly, but there are ways to figure out if your fluctuations indesire correspond with the changing seasons.

If you aren’t interested in sex with your partner, think about why. If it’s becauseyou’re no longer sexually attracted to them in general, that’s one problem. If it’sbecause you can’t seem to summon the energy, that’s a different kettle of fish, andone that may indicate SAD, especially if you feel positively enthusiastic about it atother times of the year.

One of the primary indicators is simply not wanting to be around people, in a sexualor any other context. SAD patients often don’t want to be touched at all. You may

find yourself increasingly saying you just need to spend time alone or asking to beleft alone.

Women, as we’ve said, are more prone to SAD than men. Since women also have the stereotypical stigma of being less interested in sex than their male counterparts, these symptoms of SAD may go completely unnoticed, chalked up to the prejudice that “women just aren’t as sexual as men.”

A desire for sex often resurfaces during the spring and summer months, which canlead to a lot of relationship issues. A husband who has become accustomed to sex a

few times a week may feel hurt and abandoned when his wife is suddenly notinterested in sex at all for months at a time. If he’s unaware that this disinterest isonly one of many symptoms indicating seasonal depression, he will likely take itpersonally.

Similarly, when the sex drive returns in spring months, your spouse may feelconfused and a little suspicious. Any abrupt change in behavior, whether for good or for ill, will probably throw your spouse for a loop, and if the two of you haven’t made

the connection that these changes correspond with the seasons, there’s always thesuspicion that some other outside force must have brought the change on. Sex is a

sensitive issue for many couples, and the on-again, off-again sex drive of SADpatients can make for a very tense environment in a relationship.






SAD Patients and Sadness: The Road to Depression

For many people who haven’t yet identified the source of their problems asSeasonal Affective Disorder, they may come to believe their behavior and socialdifficulties are their own fault. Feeling incapable of accomplishing anything or pleasinganyone, it’s no wonder these people start to feel useless and as though there isn’tany point to their lives.

These feelings are depression, and SAD is just one of many ways it can be broughton. This is one of the many reasons identifying SAD as a psychological problem is soimportant: SAD patients need to realize their feelings of inadequacy are not their own fault or due to any defect in character. They have a medical basis, just like any other medical condition.

Think of it this way. If you were born with an allergy, you wouldn’t be ashamed of

that fact. It’s a simple medical problem, and it’s completely out of your control.There’s no reason to feel guilty about being unable to process dairy.

Just so, there’s no reason to feel guilty about being unable to handle the change in the seasons well. It has a basis in the chemical processes of your brain, and there’sabsolutely nothing you could have done to prevent it. It’s not a judgment on your capabilities or your willingness to contribute to society. It’s a medical problem, pureand simple.

And it can be treated.

Mood problems are possibly one of the worst ways to identify SAD, simply because the depression that results from SAD symptoms is similar to many other kinds of depression. Furthermore, many people who have physical SAD symptoms – dietchanges, social isolation, and trouble focusing – never internalize those symptomsinto feelings of guilt and thus do not develop depression.

However, depression can be one of the most immediately dangerous symptoms of SAD. If you are feeling depressed for any reason – even if SAD symptoms don’tapply to you – you should seek immediate psychiatric help. If you are depressed as a

result of the other symptoms we’ve helped you identify here, then you should seek a therapist and bring your concerns about SAD to the table.

Light therapy can treat the physical symptoms of SAD, and this may completely alleviate your feelings of depression. However, internalizing physical symptoms intoguilt may be an indicator of a larger problem, so even if light therapy eliminates your SAD symptoms and alleviates your depression, you should probably still speak tosomeone about those feelings.






I Think I Might Have SAD. What Should I Do?

Aside from the physical effects of SAD, which are bad enough, there can be a lot of traumatic mental and emotional strain during the winter months. This means youmay be experiencing serious depression, which you should get treatment for immediately.

See a Doctor

Consult your doctor first thing if you think you have SAD. Either your doctor will treat you him- or herself, or they may refer you to a psychiatrist, hopefully one witha background in treating SAD patients.

See a Therapist

If you already have a therapist or want help with the emotional trauma of SAD, seek out a therapist who has been referred to you either by a doctor or a friend whomyou trust. You want to be comfortable talking to a therapist almost immediately, soseeking out someone you believe will be able to quickly grasp your seasonalproblems and help you with them is of paramount importance.

Get a Support Group

Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues about your problems and ask for their support as you seek treatment and get better. It’s hard to acknowledge an illness

(we’ll talk about this more in the section on Coming Out with SAD), but you may find that the people in your life are relieved to hear that the changes they’ve noticedin you are not their fault, but the result of an illness. Having a supportive community is often incredibly helpful in getting through any kind of depression or medicalproblem.

Go Online

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your friends and family, or you simply want to talk to other people who are going through the same thing, there are many online

communities currently available for people who are suffering from SAD. Thesecommunities can be helpful for emotional suppor t – it’s always good to feel you’renot alone. And of course, you can find the latest breakthroughs, tips and advice atsadtherapylamps.com or the blog at sadtherapylamps.com/blog.



http://sadtherapylamps.com/blog









Start Light Therapy

In the next few sections, we’re going to discuss how to star t light therapy, where tofind light boxes, and how to use them. Light therapy is perfectly safe to star t on your

own and you needn’t have supervision. Every light box we know of and sell comeswith instructions on the basics of light therapy, and you can adjust according to your personal needs.







Treating SAD





Light Therapy

What Is Light Therapy?

Light therapy was the first treatment used to treat the first patient of SAD, and to this day a better one has yet to be found. Over the years, better kinds of light andbetter ways of getting the light absorbed by SAD patients have been developed, but

the light box continues to be the greatest innovation in treating Seasonal AffectiveDisorder.

Henry Ward Beecher once commented, “I think you might dispense with half your doctors if you would only consult Dr. Sun more.” Perhaps sunlight can’t replace somuch as half the doctors, but certainly sunlight, and man-made light, have beenshown to treat everything from skin disorders to depression. Several kinds of depression outside SAD have shown good responses to regular light exposure,

including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and postpartum depression.

Light therapy has also been used repeatedly to help with sleep disorders. It has alsohelped people who suffer insomnia and sleep troubles as a result of working late-night shifts, and even for jet lag!

As you can see, sunlight is a powerful tool in fighting both depression and sleepproblems, and as the symptoms of SAD contain elements of both, it’s small wonder

that light therapy has done so much for people who have seasonal problems.

Though light therapy is very simple to administer, there are some basic guidelines tofollow in order to get the most out of it. There are also a few precautions to take.Some light sources, for example, can be harmful to your eyes or skin, so it’s best togo with a quality light box specifically designed for light therapy treatment.

Can I Use A Regular Lamp?

NO! Doing light therapy with a regular lamp is exceedingly dangerous to both your eyesight and your skin. Creating your own light lamp can cause problems as you willhave the wrong light type, the wrong wavelengths, and no filter for the UV rays that

can cause cancer and eye damage. You really must get a professionally made light therapy lamp if you want to be sure of your safety.

Make sure you follow the instructions for light therapy, please! If you don’t, you may think that light therapy isn’t helping when in fact it’s simply that you aren’t doing itcorrectly. If this happens, you may decide that you don’t have SAD and continue tosuffer symptoms that could be easily dispersed with proper light therapy treatment.






How Soon Does It Work?

SAD patients who start light therapy often see results in just a few days – as little as2-4 in most cases. At the very most, light therapy should only take two weeks to

show effects. If at the end of that time light therapy hasn’t helped your symptoms, it’spossible that either you do not have SAD, or that some other, more extrememeasure may be necessary in the severity of your case (see Alternate Treatments in

this section).






How Does Light Therapy Work?

In very basic terms, light therapy works by extending the hours of the day that youare exposed to sunlight. Though the light emitted by a light box is ar tificial sunlight,

thankfully your body can’t tell the difference. These extended hours of sunlight help trick your body into believing there is no seasonal change in light, and thus prevent the symptoms of SAD. This is another reason why the correct light therapy lamp isso essential.

That’s the easy answer. But why should light be such a big factor in seasonal changes? Why not the temperature, for example?

That’s a much harder question to answer. To date, scientists are still trying to track down exactly what causes SAD. They believe it is a problem with theneurotransmitters melatonin, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, and quite a

bit of experimentation has shown that these neurotransmitters do fluctuateabnormally in SAD patients during the seasons that give them the most trouble.

So we know what the problem is, but scientists haven’t yet determined exactly what the loss of light has to do with these neurotransmitters going out of whack.Obviously, most people do not experience SAD, and so it’s probably not simply partof being human to feel this way during the winter months. It may simply be thatsome people are more sensitive to the loss of light than others.

While researchers are still working on the exact connection between these

neurotransmitters and loss of light, they have found that light therapy works to fool those neurotransmitters into thinking they are receiving a “normal” level of light,which is to say the same amount as they get during the spring, summer and fallmonths.

They’ll continue to put forth theories and test them on why certain people’sneurotransmitters should start to dysfunction when light is scarce while others arefine, but in the meantime, simply supplying SAD patients with an adequate lightsupply to keep those neurotransmitters firing does the trick toward preventing theserious symptoms that can completely run your life off the rails.






Starting Light Therapy on Your Own

It’s always best, if possible, to get a doctor’s opinion on your self-diagnosis beforeundergoing treatment. However, that’s not always possible, and since properly administered light therapy doesn’t have side effects the way that medication does,

there’s no harm in undergoing a two-week trial of self-induced light therapy to see if there’s any effect on your symptoms.

The Right Light Box

There are many different light boxes available, but they should all have a fewessential components if you’re going to use them for light therapy.(more blank space between numbers; this note for us when creating PDF)Your box should have a film that filters UV rays. If it doesn’t, you put both your skinand your eyes at risk for UV damage.

Your box should be at least 24 by 18 inches. Light boxes that are smaller than thishave been shown to be less effective – though they may be beneficial for situationswhere you are not able to carry around a full-size light box. If you travel a lot, it may be best to have a smaller light for travel and a larger one at home.

The box should put out at least 2,500 lux, at most 10,000 lux. A lux is a measure of light, and your light fixture should say how many lux it emits. Between 2,500 and10,000 lux has been shown to be the right range for therapy purposes. Higher lightintensity levels mean it’s possible to have shorter therapy sessions, which you may

want to consider if time is a factor.

Your box should use fluorescent bulbs. Flourescents spread out the light over awider surface area, which is both more effective and safer.Optional: your box should be tilted toward your eyes. Many boxes take some pains

to adjust the light so it tilts toward your eyes, which may be more effective. This isn’tnecessarily conclusive, so an upright box is still a fine choice, but if you want to doparticular activities while receiving light therapy, the adjustable factor may beimportant to you.






When to Do Light Therapy

For most people, the most effective time is early in the morning. Remember thatyou are attempting to mimic a longer day, so administering light therapy in the hoursbefore the sun is actually up in the sky can artificially extend the time you spend inlight throughout the day, tricking your body. Though some people cannot bring

themselves to get up in order to administer light therapy, there are some tricks tohelp with this problem in the section on dawn simulators.

Some people have also gotten wonderful results from both a morning and eveningsession, effectively extending daylight both at the beginning and end of the winter day.

Light therapy session lengths depend hugely on the person. Some people are very sensitive to light therapy, and a 15-minute session goes a long way. Others may need

several hours a day. On average, somewhere between 30-90 minutes is a safe range to star t with, and you can adjust as you see fit for your body. Even if you don’t hit the perfect time period the first few sessions, you should be able to tell whether it ishelping at all.

If light therapy is helping, and you feel more energized but not as good as you doduring summer months, experiment with a slightly longer light therapy session after aweek. By adding small increments, you should be able to find a range that works for you. You may also experiment with different times of day.

Some people, as we’ve said, are sensitive to light therapy and may experience moodchanges on the opposite end of the spectrum, a milder form of the hypomania inreverse SAD. If you find that you’re unusually hyped up and anxious after a week of light therapy, try reducing the amount of light therapy you give yourself. You want tofind a range that helps you feel normal – going too far in the other direction can be

just as hard on you as the original SAD symptoms!






Where Can I Find Proper Light Boxes?

There are multiple sources for light boxes. You can find a wide selection of the bestquality, properly designed SAD lamps with good prices at SADTherapyLamps.com. Itcan be difficult to find a retail store in your area that sells light boxes simply because

the disorder is not common enough for major retailers to carry them.

Warning: Do not build your own light box. While you may be perfectly qualified tobuild a light box with the basic correct components, there are so many factors thatcan go wrong it would be dangerous to use a light box that has not been thoroughly

tested. Overexposure to light, especially for the eyes, can cause serious damage. All the light therapy boxes and lamps available on SADTherapyLamps.com have beenrepeatedly tested to be sure they emit the correct amount and type of light and thatyou have sufficient protection from UV rays. Please don’t endanger yourself by building a light box on your own!

The average cost of a light box runs from less than $100 to $400 with many modelsfalling somewhere in the middle. Prices are dependent on the size of the light boxand additional features like portability or adjustments that make it easier for the light

to reach your eyes. A few different kinds of light boxes and light therapy fixtures youmay consider:

Therapy Lamps

These often look more like air filters and not like your standard lamps. They have a

broad face where the light is emitted to get you as much exposure as possible in ashort period of time. These are the lamps you should use for your light therapy sessions. Look for different brightnesses and features depending on what you intend

to do while undergoing light therapy (see Par t V for suggestions). For those whohave environmental concerns, there are versions with LED lights available.(photos of models )

Floor Lamps and Table Lamps

These look like regular floor and table lamps, but they have been designed to offer

full-spectrum, bright light that has the same therapeutic qualities as therapy lamps.Though they don’t put out as much light and it is not centered on your eyes, many people suffering from SAD have found that altering the light available in their homeseven when not doing a light therapy sessions has great results for diminishing thesymptoms of SAD.






Portable Lamps

For people who travel frequently or who need to spend long hours at the office anddon’t want to miss a light therapy session, portable lamps are a great way to go.

Though smaller and less effective than therapy lamps, they can keep the good effectsof light therapy going for longer than stopping light therapy entirely while traveling. Itisn’t recommended to stop and start light therapy if it’s helping, since it confusesyour body. A portable lamp can be just the thing to keep the good effects going.






Rising at the Crack of Dawn – Dawn Simulators

Dawn simulators are a great addition to your light therapy sessions, especially if youintend to get up early to do them as is recommended. Since light is one of the

triggers that lets our bodies know it’s time to wake up, dragging yourself out of bedin the winter can be extremely difficult. Even if you wake up when it’s technically light out, the sun won’t show itself above the horizon for some time, and your roomis much darker than it would be in the summer months. A dawn simulator can getaround these obstacles.

Dawn simulators basically increase the level of light in your room by degrees as yousleep, slowly informing your body that it’s time to wake up in a way that feelsnatural. Since it starts before you actually intend to awake and reaches its peak justas you’re reaching for the alarm clock, you feel as though you’d naturally woken up

to the light of the sun.

The other great effect of dawn simulators is that they help regulate your sleepingpatterns. Not only will you get up in time for your light therapy session withoutfeeling like it’s torture to drag yourself out of bed, you’ll sleep better because your body feels comfor table waking at the same time every day. You’ll find that many guides to better sleep recommend that you go to bed and wake up at the same

time every day. A dawn simulator helps you do that while also paying heed to your seasonal problems.

While light therapy can help immensely with the symptoms of SAD, including the

feelings of lethargy and lacking energy, it doesn’t necessarily help you get better-quality sleep. A dawn simulator can help take care of that factor while light therapy helps you stay alert and awake during the daylight hours.






Other Uses for Light Therapy

You may have been reading through this book thinking that while you don’t have thesymptoms of SAD, you have noticed that you benefit from more light. You may haveexperienced headaches, mood problems, or sleep problems and found that yougravitate toward brightly-lit rooms when these symptoms appear. You may besubconsciously self-treating a handful of other problems that light therapy is goodfor.

If you consistently suffer from any of these problems in addition to SAD or all on their own, light therapy can help.

Changing Your Internal Clock

Some people are night owls by nature, but that’s something of a misnomer. Few

people are actually night owls; it’s simply that their bodies have reacted to light cuesin a certain way. By using light therapy, it’s possible to change from a night owl into a9-to-5 day creature, which can be hugely beneficial if you’ve recently changedprofessions.

Reducing Jet Lag

This is similar to changing your internal clock as for night owls. Many of us haveexperienced jet lag when flying even into the next time zone. You wouldn’t think

that an hour would have such a serious effect on us, but often it’s so debilitating that

we can’t really enjoy our vacation or focus on sealing the deal for work as we weresupposed to. Light therapy can help you fool your body into thinking it’s on the same

time zone during the entire trip, so you don’t need to deal as your body tries toadjust itself.

Insomnia

Insomniacs often have trouble interpreting light cues that tell them when it’s time togo to bed. If they’re customarily surrounded by bright light until the wee hours, their minds never get the message that it’s time for sleep. Their bodies may get tired, but

the mind is wide awake and alert. Using light therapy can help develop the right lightcues to eliminate that mind-racing problem.

If you’re looking for more information on uses for light therapy, check outSADTherapyLamps.com/blog.









Someone to Listen: Psychotherapy as Treatment

Many SAD patients experience depression as a result of their symptoms, and thatcannot be taken lightly. Depression is a serious issue that can cripple you or lead tosuicidal impulses. Though some SAD patients only experience physical symptoms

that are easily treated with light therapy, some patients have much deeper wounds that it is best a therapist addresses.

This doesn’t mean that psychotherapy should be used in place of light therapy.Discussing your emotional troubles with a therapist will only address part of theproblem. Using light therapy to treat the physical symptoms while usingpsychotherapy to treat the emotional problems has been shown to be an extremely effective combination.

Even if you find that all your SAD-related depression has dissipated, the fact that you

have lived under the shadow of this disorder for such a long time may still havelingering effects on your psyche. You may be uncertain about your career path, for example. Where before you had struggled simply to hold onto the job with your seasonal difficulties, now you’re questioning whether you should stick with it at all.You know you can handle its stresses, but now you simply don’t like it.

Or you may be feeling guilty over past behavior, even if your light therapy has helpedso much that you no longer show any of the same symptoms. If you used to spendmost of the winter months in bed and unable to pay attention to your children, for example, you may feel guilty about that – even if now you’re able to give them all

the attention they need.

In short, psychotherapy is an excellent course of action before, during, and after light therapy treatment. Furthermore, a good therapist may be able to help you diagnoseyour SAD and guide you to the methods of treatment that are best for you. If youfind that light therapy does not help with your symptoms, a therapist should be able

to help you find alternate treatments and continue on the path to recovery.






Prescription Medications for SAD: Pros and Cons

If light therapy, psychotherapy, and exercise are not sufficient to alleviate your feelingsof depression, your therapist may recommend prescription medication. The mostcommonly prescribed medications are antidepressants, specifically SSRIantidepressants, including fluoxetine, sertraline, and paroxetine. Though themedication you’re prescribed is up to the discretion of both you and your doctor,

there are some pros and cons to using medication as opposed to less invasive formsof therapy for SAD.

Pros to Prescription Medication:

Can be effective for serious depression in cases where light therapy is not.Can have an immediate effect if you are feeling suicidal and desperate.Your doctor may recommend it as the best choice for treating your specific case.

May be an effective way to eliminate the symptoms and help you feel like yourself It’s possible to only use prescription medication during the time you are depressedPrescription medication can be combined with other forms of therapy to make for an overall package that works for you

Cons to Prescription Medication:

✓ May have serious physical and mental side effects, including many thatmimic the symptoms of SAD: sedation, weight gain, sexual problems, etc.

✓ Alters mood and sometimes personality; can be difficult to adjust.

✓ Some medications may take some time to wean off of, thus...✓ Limiting your choices about when you stop.

✓ Finding the correct medication dosage can take time and may be very hardto deal with in the meantime.

This isn’t to say that antidepressants are not a legitimate and valid way of treating the symptoms of SAD by any means. Many SAD patients have had a lot of successcombining psychotherapy, medication, and light therapy, for example. With thecorrect doctor who understands your symptoms well, antidepressants can be a valid

tool in fighting SAD.

There are trade-offs, however, and it’s important to consider whether you arecomfortable with antidepressants. It’s also important to remember that you shouldgo with the therapy treatment that works best for you. If your doctor really thinks

that antidepressants will help, consider the option seriously. Ultimately, only you candecide.







Adjusting To SAD



Part IV: Adjusting Your Lifestyle AroundSAD

Though SAD can feel like an impossible-to-overcome obstacle, many peoplecurrently live happy, fulfilling lives year-round as SAD patients. By using a combinationof therapeutic treatments, enlisting the support of their friends and family, andrecognizing that certain adjustments in their daily routine are necessary in the winter months, these people manage the change in seasons with hardly a hitch.

You can think of adjusting your lifestyle around SAD like preparing yourself for thewinter, just as you prepare your house for the winter. When the seasons change, youcheck your gutters to make sure they won’t collect ice and damage your roof. Youlook at your double-paned windows for any problems. You lay in firewood andemergency supplies. And so forth.

With all the attention your house gets to prepare for the change in seasons, why shouldn’t you get in the action? SAD patients simply take precautions in thewintertime to prepare for the hard times ahead. Preparing in advance keeps theworst of their symptoms at bay and in the best cases, can help them feel as if they don’t have SAD at all.

To prepare yourself for the winter, you’ll have to lay in supplies. You’ll want a lightbox you can use regularly, supportive friends and family you can call on when youneed them, and probably a therapist to help you through the toughest spots. You

may also want an exercise bike or a few extra hands around the house. Whatever you decide you need to be ready for the winter storms, you can get it.

This section will show you how.






How Do I Incorporate Light Therapy Into My HomeLife?

Since your family has probably been having some trouble dealing with your SAD

symptoms, the adjustment toward making space for treatment should becomparatively much easier. That doesn’t mean that some compromises may not bein order, though. If you sleep with your spouse and want to use a dawn simulator, for example, that may not be something your spouse can handle. The last thing youwant to do is trade your sleep problems for his or hers!

Light Therapy at Home

First of all, establish when and for how long you need to do light therapy in order tofeel the benefits. Once you’ve done that, you can figure out where it works into

your schedule. You may be able to do light therapy in the mornings before work, but this may mean that your spouse needs to take over making breakfast for the kids.Figure out where you need to make compromises and adjust the workload so thatyou can do your light therapy without disrupting the household routines. If need be,

trade tasks! There’s a great list of things you can do while getting a light therapy session in the next section. Maybe you trade dish duty for laundry, since you can dolight therapy in the laundry room.

Finding a Space

Light boxes aren’t terribly large, but you still want it to be in a place where you caneasily access it on a daily basis. You may also want to be able to put it into a closetout of sight if you’re entertaining. It’s also good to keep your light box in the roomyou’ll be most frequently using for your sessions, so that you won’t risk damaging itby moving it all the time. It also helps establish your light therapy as part of the daily household routine, just as you might incorporate jogging or a woodworking hobby.Make it part of the normal scene and you won’t feel self-conscious about using it.






Light Therapy in the Bedroom

As we’ve mentioned, dawn simulators can be a very effective tool for SAD patientswho have trouble waking up on time in the morning and getting out of bed.Unfortunately, you’re often not the only person in the bed! The good news is that

many people enjoy waking up to a dawn simulator, so you may find that your spouseactually likes the addition to the alarm clock. If that’s not the case, you may want tofigure out an alternate sleeping arrangement for the winter months. Maybe yousleep in the guest room for the three months when your symptoms are worst, for example. Talk to your spouse and figure out a compromise that works for you.






What Should I Do During Light Therapy Sessions?

We’ve got lots of ideas for you! Light therapy is fair ly simple to administer andabsorb, and most people find they get excellent benefits if the box is anywhere from

three feet to two yards away from their face. So long as they keep their face turned toward the box, they can get great benefits while still performing a variety of tasks.

Read

Catching up with a good book is a great way to do your light therapy. A solitary activity that’s “just for you” can also help you feel like you’re taking time for yourself,which can be very beneficial in SAD patients.

Exercise

As we’ve said before, exercise has been proven very beneficial on its own for SADpatients. Combining light therapy and exercise is a fantastic one-two punch against

the winter blues. If you have a stationary bike or elliptical trainer, simply put on someheadphones, face the light box, and work out to your hear t’s content! Make it achallenge to keep working out until your light therapy time is up and you’ll probably keep those winter pounds at bay without any trouble at all.

There are light boxes that can be adjusted and placed on stands, so that they are ateye level when you’re on a tall exercise machine. These are probably best for workout situations unless you’re thinking of making use of a convenient tabletop or

bookshelf.

Work

Many SAD patients take their light boxes to work with them. If your boss is okay with it and you have a fairly closed off space, there’s no reason you should bother anyone around you, and you may find that the light has positive effects on your productivity. Interesting fact: people who don’t suffer from SAD have found that lightboxes in the workplace can improve their productivity, too! Talk to your boss about

the benefits and ask if it’s okay to do a trial run for a few weeks. Your boss may be

so impressed with the results that he’ll actually want you to do your light therapy atwork!

Even if you’d rather not take your light box into the office, you can still get officework done at home while facing the light box. That way you can double up on the

tasks you need to complete and have more time to spend with your family or doingany other activities you enjoy.






Play Board Games

When it comes to spending time with your kids, most parents can’t get enough.There’s no reason you can’t do your light therapy and play with them at the same

time. Crack out a board game like Monopoly or Life and position your child at your right or left hand, instead of across from you. Put the light box directly across fromyou instead. Then you can play your board game without your child obscuring thelight, and you can teach them why it’s better to put hotels on Oriental than houseson Vermont. Similar activities like card games or helping your child assemble Lego or models could work just as well.

Do Chores

No, it’s not a fun job, but let’s face it – the chores have got to be done. There are

many domestic tasks that you can complete while getting your light therapy,depending on the layout of your rooms. Some people can have their light box in theright position while doing the dishes, for example. Most will be able to find a goodplace to get light therapy while doing the laundry. You can also do the bills andbalance your checkbook.

Use the time to do those nagging little tasks that you always mean to do, but never get done. Remember how you said you’d put those stacks of photos into nice neatalbums? This is a good time to do it. Got a stack of clothes that need a button sewnon or a rip mended? Do a little needlework. Have a small repair job to do on a

piece of furniture or a mechanical object in the house? Bring your tools to your lightbox and get it done.

Listen to Music or Books on Tape

A nice relaxing way to spend your light therapy time is by listening to your favoriteband for a few hours or catching up on the works of your favorite author. Just don’tclose your eyes and fall asleep – the benefits of light therapy have been shown to bemost effective if the light






reaches your eyes. Stay aler t, but enjoy the idle time to really appreciate your favorite artists in whatever medium you choose.






Light Therapy on the Go

For those SAD patients who have an extremely active, jetsetting lifestyle, they may be frustrated by the necessity of daily light therapy just to keep up the pace. Thestandard size light boxes are fairly large and heavy, and certainly not convenient for shoving into your carry-on. Consider these options for the constantly traveling SADpatient.

Skip a Day

Though you shouldn’t do so too frequently, you can generally skip one day of light therapy without any adverse affects. Just as it takes a few days to see the effects of light therapy initially, it takes a few days for the reverse trend to set in. That said,skipping more than one day can confuse your body’s rhythms and cause sleep andmood issues, so if you’re going to be away from home longer than 36 hours,

consider some of the other options.

Use a Smaller SAD Lamp

Studies have shown that smaller lamps are less effective than their larger counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely ineffective. On the contrary,small SAD lamps can extend the time between light box sessions by another fewdays. If you’re going to be out of town for 3 days, try doing slightly longer sessionswith a smaller SAD lamp. There are small desktop versions as well as a nifty contraption that dangles a SAD lamp from a visor so it hits your eyes at just the

right angle!

Get a Portable SAD Lamp

There are many models of SAD lamp available now that fold into a case that lookslike a suitcase or carrying bag. If you’re willing to handle an extra piece of luggage,you can have the same light box experience you’d normally have at home. Thedownside of course is that light boxes are fairly expensive to replace, and travelingwith one makes it more likely the light box will be damaged or lost. They’re also fairly heavy, so this may not be a good idea if you have back or shoulder problems. If

you’re willing to keep a sharp eye on it and you have biceps that Popeye wouldenvy, this can be a very good option.






A Life Less SAD

We hope this book has brought you some insight into the causes of SAD andhelped you figure out some of the steps you can take to mitigate its symptoms.There are many people just like you who are suffering from seasonal depression, and

there’s no reason you should continue to live with the effects of it every time theleaves change.

Light therapy has helped thousands of people banish those feelings of depressionevery winter, and they now live normal, productive lives year-round. You can have

that feeling too. There’s a simple solution, and it works to treat SAD better thananything else on the market, including psychotherapy alone. It’s safe, it’s drug-free,and most people see results within a few days.

If you’re already feeling the effects of seasonal depression, wouldn’t you like to

banish them within the week? Get a light therapy lamp and get out of the darkness.There’s a new dawn for people with SAD – and it comes in a box.

Light therapy has changed the lives of thousands of people who suffer from SAD. We know it will change yours. With the help of this book, we wish you every gladness from your light therapy treatment – and an end to winter depression,forever.






SAD Light Recommendations

As one of the largest online retailers of SAD therapy lamps, SadTherapyLamps.com have many customers asking us for light recommendations. While many good quality

models exist from our suppliers we understand that having too many options can beconfusing. Therefore we have picked out the lamps which fit have had very goodfeedback on the following units in terms of price and usability.

Verilux makes beautifully designed lighting products that go with any decor. They have been producing innovative, reliable lamps with good value for over 50 years.

Verilux HappylightThe Happylight is a very popular light that provides 10,000 lux inan attractive housing that is easily portable. at an afforable price

Featured on The Martha Stewart as one of the ways to beatwinter depression and restore your motivation and energy.

Verilux Happylite MiniThe HappyLite Mini Ultra helps you defeat the Winter Blues with up

to 5,000 LUX of natural light. The HappyLite Mini is perfect if you sitnext to a computer or work at a desk in an office all day with very little exposure to natural sunlight. Increase mood and energy with

the 5,000 LUX of healthy light at half the intensity of the Happylight.

Sunbox is the first SAD lamp manufacturer, Sunbox originally worked with NIMH(National Institute of Mental Health) to develope the first light box for treating SAD.Sunbox is known for their well researched products and close ties to experts in thelight therapy field. Many of their lamps are recommended by therapists and doctors.

Digital Sunrise Clock Dawn Simulator increase your roomroom levels by degrees as you sleep, slowly informing your body

that it’s time to wake up in a way that feels natural. This makes youfeel as though you’d naturally woken up to the light of the sun. Thismodel offers a number of additional features, including display

brightness controls, an automatic nightlight, a snooze feature, and a

Sunbox Sunsation is a flexible multi-use light box. It comes with adetachable wire desk stand that delivers the light at therecommended downward angle, and can be used either as a desk light or be converted to a floor lamp with the optional floor stand.

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Documents

Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD Therapy Guide