Light Therapy and You

light-therapyLight therapy is the answer when you have been suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). You no longer have to suffer in silence during the long, cold, dark winter months. Instead, with light therapy, you can relieve some of the symptoms of depression, and find yourself feeling normal again.

Suffering from SAD is often much more than just a case of the winter blues. This type of depression can be severe, affecting the way you function, live your life and your mood. People often become very depressed, with some people even experiencing grief-life symptoms. But light therapy can help you.

Scientists believe that the decreasing hours of daylight are responsible for this seasonal depression and that light therapy can be an effective form of treatment. Our current understanding is that a small cluster of brain cells referred to as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) act as the master biological clock, eventually sending information regarding the amount of light coming in through the eyes, to a small gland at the base of the brain. This gland produces the hormone melatonin, and the amount of light seems to determine how much melatonin is released into the bloodstream.

It is determined that the less light we are exposed to, the more melatonin the blood carries and vice versa. So as we approach winter, and the daylight is lesser and lesser, there is more melatonin in the bloodstream, possibly making some people suffer from SAD. Light therapy is the most established type of light treatment for SAD.

Light therapy often helps people suffering from SAD in a relatively quick time period. Within a week of starting daily treatment of sitting near the light therapy box, people often report an increased amount of energy. Within a few weeks of treatment, many people start feeling like themselves again, with the depression gone.

Don’t suffer from SAD. Start light therapy for SAD with an Alaska Northern Lights product today and get on the road to recovery.

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