Tuesday
Jan242006
Are You SAD, Are You Blue?
Tue, January 24, 2006 at 05:48AM A British scientist has worked out that January 24 is the worst day in the year for SAD sufferers. SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it’s better known as the Winter Blues. An expert in this complaint, Dr Norman Rosenthal , has written a book about it – The Winter Blues. He’s also put online a self-test for determining whether you are likely to be a seasonally-affected person.
If you have SAD, don’t despair. There are a number of good treatments, foremost of which is exposure to a light box for half an hour each morning; the purpose is to provide a strong supply of light to the retina, from where it can influence the release of appropriate anti-depressive chemicals in the brain. You need to have a light box that produces 10,000 lux, so don’t think you can just put a stronger bulb in your table light. And the box has to have a UV filter to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.
Reader Comments (1)
I was diagnosed with SAD two years ago. So my doctor said I should start using light therapy products, and this last winter has been much much better.