Light therapy for depression

Alternative treatment for seasonal depression.

Today is a good day. Why? Because the weather is good and the sun is shining. There seems to be a form of depression in which light acts as a therapy.

I mean, who doesn’t know that? It’s winter, the days are getting shorter, it’s darker and we’re not in a good mood. You feel tired all day long. You eat too much. gaining weight To a certain extent this is perfectly normal.

But there is also depression. Not only do people have depressed moods, they have this massive daytime sleepiness. Sleep a lot. Eat a lot. Many have such a craving for carbohydrates and that is a special form of depression.

It called seasonal depression.

This always comes out in the fall. This then extends over the dark winter months and in spring this mood disappears. So if it comes back every year and happens the same way over and over again, it’s called a seasonal depression.

In principle, it is treated like other depressions. With antidepressants.

In the case of mild degrees of severity or if there are contraindications, i.e. medication cannot be given, then light therapy is the therapy of choice.

Are you now wondering how this therapy works? Not with a normal lightbulb. A standard incandescent bulb has approximately 500 lux. Lux is the unit of illuminance.

If you want to use light therapy for seasonal depression, you need 2,500 to 10,000 lux. That is 5 to 20 times as much. The strength of the lamp then depends on how long we have to sit in front of it.

You sit in front of these extremely bright lamps at a distance of 50–80 cm.

The best time is early in the morning, between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

You sit in front of it and depending on how strong the lamp is. So 2500 lux or 10000 LUX, you sit for two hours or just half an hour.

It is important that you really look into the light a few times a minute, even though it is very bright, so that the whole thing can take effect. Of course, sunglasses must not be worn. Otherwise it makes no sense.

According to studies, light therapy has a certain effectiveness. There are studies that show that the first successes can be seen after one to four weeks.

It is important that this therapy is constantly repeated for the entire duration of the dark season.

In spring, with regular exposure to the sun, therapy can be interrupted.

Walks can then be used as an alternative. These should last about an hour and are best completed in sunshine.