Originally published at: How I treat my Seasonal Affective Disorder | Boing Boing
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I also have seasonal affective disorder, and it doesn’t help that I live in an area with fewer blue sky days than Seattle and the sun goes down at 4:20pm at the peak of winter.
I’ve had good success with a HappyLight - their Lucent model is half the price of these TheraLight models, and is very effective - I use it for 15 minutes at the start of my day and then another 15 minutes a few hours later.
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I’ve had success with a light that points slightly up from a side table (when I’m reclined in a chair). In my experience, the key is to get it INTO your eyes, so I think you are wrong about the only good position.
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happy campers ( by natural balance ) work well for my normal , society is beyond my ability to fix , everyday depression and massive amounts of vitamin d3 seem to work for the seasonal stuff !! 400 iu is maybe a reasonable normal dose , i am taking 15,000 now , with less at summer solstice and more at winter solstice . outdoor exercise also seems to help me and many other people . i have heard , or , well , read , that socialization can be of benefit .
some people do indeed report that auxiliary lighting can help . try different things , if the first thing you try does not work for you , try another ! talk therapy is also recommended , or at least , talking to friends ( or , again , so i have read )
your mileage may and will vary
offer void , as usual , in texas outside of austin
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A little over a decade ago I realized that every year about the time daylight savings kicked in I felt like jumping out a window. Over the years, my strategy in dealing with this has evolved into a combination of a SAD light, vitamin D supplements and getting outside as much as possible.
I did try going on an anti-depressant one year over the winter months, but I didn’t like the side effects and it didn’t really help so I stopped.
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Sad light did nothing for me. I first tried it in the waning light of autumn, but it’s ineffectuality may have something to do with having a job that suddenly had me waking up at 4:00am. I’m a late sleeper and an afternoon person. The light was useless.
Does anyone else with depression/anxiety get the opposite? Like, I feel so much better in the fall, summer is the worst (maybe because I live in Georgia which is an unlivable hellscape 4 months out of the year). Seems like it was this way even when I lived in Michigan though. Feels good when the clocks turn back and its dark at like 6:00PM!
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In Georgia you’re going to get more sun in the winter than I do up here in Toronto (depending on the weather, of course). If you spend more time in the summer inside in the air conditioning, that might explain it.
I’m certainly not motivated to go outside on a hot, humid summer day, and we only get maybe 2-3 weeks of them a year.
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Wow. Are you me?
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I get some SAD in August for this reason. Too hot to get outside much. I’ve started making a point of getting out in the morning, before it’s too bad.
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