Seasonal Affective Disorder and LED lamps

I begin feeling a little blue every winter and I don't mean cold. I wouldn't say that I am depressed but I lose my normal edgey self a bit. It's as if all of my energy has been sapped from me. The mind is willing but the body feels absolutely shattered. My wife thinks that it has something to do with the fact that I am not getting the same amount and intensity of sunlight that I get during the summer. During the summer, I ride my bike to work 3x a week and then I would try to squeeze in a 60-100 mile training ride on the weekend. The training rides are on hold because of the yucky weather but I still ride 3x a week to work. Only now I am bundled up under a lot of clothing to stay warm. Not only am I missing out on the sunlight that could potentially be helping me synthesize "feel good" hormones but I am also missing out on the "feel good" hormones that come from a good work out.

I know the difference between "tired" and "worn out". Tired is when the body cannot perform. Worn out is when I have beaten myself up with too much hard riding and not given myself enough recovery.

After looking into this a bit, I think she's right. One of the things that the SAD websites say helps is light therapy. LED light boxes and lamps seem to be the most popular products. I'd get one on a whim except that they cost $150-$350!

Is there anything special about these LEDs? Would I be burning myself up with UV if I used a "regular" white LED grid?

I would love to hear from others on the subject as I am just beginning to explore this subject.

-- Boris

The problem is that in medicine, as it is a "soft" science, you need to prove things with big studies first before saying that you know something.

So, light therapie has requirements that go back to tha days before LED was the hot thing around and has some reuqirements, like daylight CCT and a minimum required brightness (which I have forgotten) and what not. Also, there is a regime to follow or it won't be as effective as it can be.

But you're right ... the SAD is the only mental illness where ligth therapy is a very valid cure without any medicaments or psychotherapy.
Best ask your doctor.

I know that our light therapy apparatus cost way more than a few hundred bucks and run on CFP tubes or something like that.

bernie

SAD lights need not be as expensive as in the past. I use a Verilux Happy Light for less then $200. There also is the camp that says you really only need the blue wavelength part of the spectrum to enhance the mood and I know Apollo makes a number of models including this one from Costco. I can tell you, it is much less intense to the eyes but I personally would rather stick to the tried and true full spectrum so I use the Verilux model.

Try a few sessions in a tanning bed at a tanning salon for about $5~10 a session. There is also a great book on the subject called "The UV Advantage" by Dr. Michael Hollik, PH.D, MD. He also has a website.

My wife and I used to own a tanning salon and we attended one of his seminars; he's a very interesting fellow.

SAD huh?

I feel exactly the same as the OP! I think I really might have this.

Wow, I never thought about it much. My workouts during the past 2 months have really sucked since my energy level is low. I have a loss of concentration too.

I need to look into this.............

I always wondered why winter was so hard on me. Crap

Similar feelings here. Of course the wonderful economic news does not help:shakehead. Light therapy might be something you should examine. Try some winter projects? Last year I resurrected an old road bike. And last week I visited my favorite bike shop just to talk bikes for a while and dream of better weather. Good luck! Spring IS coming

My wife has suffered from this for years. We picked up a true (or full which ever they called it) spectrum light at a medical supply shop last fall when they were on sale in the beginnong of the season, cannot remember how much it was but it was around $200. She uses it every night while she reads the paper and I have noticed a big change in her moods. I am a big believer in it now, I was sceptical at first.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Blue-LED-light-box/

I ran into this a while back, They recommend blue lights, perhaps because it's closer to the UV end of the spectrum.:thinking:

I guess some in places without regular daylight hours, they use UV lamps to bolster their bodies supply of vitamin D.

Anyways, it's a pretty simple design. I kind of like the bent aluminum plate.
This AC driver can run multiple leds
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=90&products_id=990

I dunno, you may want too look into the color thing more on your own though.

Edit: Also if you have access you may want to consult a psychiatrist or a cognitive-behavioral therapist. Keep in mind that a psychiatrist is more likely to perscribe medications like anti-depressants. However both methods are very effective in treating unipolar depression, the two are thought to be linked.

Thanks for the replies and the links! I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only person who feels down and out during the winter. It's one thing to read about it in generic studies on the web but it's another to hear it from actual people.

I definitely don't feel depressed like, "Oh, life sucks" or wanting to do something drastic. Sure, there's daily stress from work and stuff but that's pretty normal. I'm not a big fan of medications, especially the stress that they can induce on our livers. My poor liver goes through enough just keeping up with my workouts!

I'm definitely going to look into the lights more. Before I buy anything, I think I'm going to try working in better lit environment. I have a laptop at work and our cafeteria has nice big windows in it. There's nothing to stop me to take my computer to the cafeteria and work there for a while. It's not going to be as bright as outdoor light but it's brighter than our general office areas.

-- Boris