Seasonal Affective Disorder- Try Natural Light

Seasonal Affective Disorder? Try Natural Light Therapy By Robert William Locke Robert William Locke Level: Platinum Robert is an Internet Marketer specialising in Children's Health and has written extensively on ADHD. He also writes on relationships....

Thousands of people every year go into a sort of depression, once fall comes. This is called SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Thousands more suffer from jet lag which is the curse of modern day travel. These two problems are closely related in that their causes are similar. There is one solution for both problems and that is the use of light therapy.

How can a light therapy lamp help in getting over jet lag or indeed in help a person to overcome SAD? As the days get shorter and shorter as winter approaches, the SAD sufferer will go into a sort of depression because s/he needs light. When there is snow, people tend to suffer less from SAD as there is so much more light.

The precise cause of seasonal affective disorder isn't known, but genetics and your age may be factors. In fact most sufferers are women around the age of thirty but it can strike anybody in the age range 15 -55.The general recommendation for most people with seasonal affective disorder is to begin treatment with light therapy in the early fall, as soon as the earliest symptoms start. Light therapy in seasonal affective disorder is independent of time of day or circadian phase.

Sunlight and natural light are essential to our natural biological rhythms. Once there is a change in these rhythms, then our bodies have difficulty in adjusting. Shorter days and long haul flights upset our natural clocks. Table-lamps are ideal at twilight when the light begins to fade.

If your doctor suggests you try light therapy, you may use a specially made light box, or a light visor that you wear on your head like a cap. Generally, light therapy takes about 30 minutes each day throughout the fall and winter, when you're most likely to be depressed. If light therapy helps you, you'll continue using it until enough sunlight is available, typically in the springtime.

How many times has a holiday or a business appointment been ruined by jet lag? It can last for days after arrival. Every time we cross a few time zones quickly, then we are likely to suffer from this condition. It can have negative effects on your judgment in a business deal and can also make you feel even more depressed when you are trying to get used to your normal routine, once back at home.

Your body clock will not be able to keep with the plane as it crosses several time zones very quickly so it will end up out of sync with the destination time. In addition changes to night and daytime come very quickly and the rhythms which normally decide our eating and sleeping routine are all out of gear. In addition, the rhythm of our body temperature will be skewed as well.

The best way to recover from jet lag and a SAD, is to invest in a sad light box or table lamp. No faddy anti-jet lag diets which you have to start way before the journey and continue afterwards. Some people take sleeping pills which can lead to fatal blood clots. Melatonin has been known to be effective. But the best, most natural way is the sad table lamp.