A SAD Experiment

I won’t really wear sunglasses and I promise – no more pictures of me in bed!

Treatment of depression with bright light is not an entirely new concept with us. A while ago I installed four fairly powerful flood lights on a track above the head of the bed. They are connected through a dimmer in order to tone them down for normal living. When they are on full blast they are very bright. At three hundred watts, these lights which are pointing straight downwards, even seem to radiate heat somewhat like the sun in summer.

Wendy has used them in the past to alleviate stress/depression but I found them somewhat uncomfortable. Now these are just hardware store incandescent floodlights, with no precise blue wavelength or anything scientific, but when you lie there for twenty minutes or so before getting up in the morning, you actually do seem to feel a little better. After ‘the treatment’ it is not difficult to get out of bed and get on with the day, even when it’s dreary outside.

I was never sure if the motivation to get out of bed was because it actually warded off the winter blues or whether I was just fed up with the bright light in my face. Anyhow, they are there and we never did give them a try on a routine basis, like twenty minutes every morning for a month or something. I don’t even know if they are strong enough or contain the wavelength of light required to blast away depression, but I’ll give it a try starting tomorrow and let you know how I make out. (This may not work because I don't feel depressed, but let's see if it makes me feel better about getting up in the morning)




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