Light Therapy for Depression

While many people know you can use light therapy for seasonal affective disorder, not everyone knows you can use light therapy for depression symptoms. Studies show that bright light therapy for depression stimulates the pineal gland’s production of serotonin, a hormone that is believed to help prevent and relieve symptoms of depression. 

Elevating your serotonin levels is said to:

  • reduce depression
  • regulate anxiety
  • stabilize mood
  • heal wounds 

The Happiness Model

Using light therapy for depression

Nutrition and Depression

When using light therapy for depression, it can be helpful to supplement your light therapy routine with  nutrition that boosts your mood. 

When the following list of nutrients taken from Stephen Langer, M.D. and James F. Scheer’s book, the Pocket Guide to Natural Health, have been shown to be effective in relieving depression:

Vitamin B-Complex:
100 mg daily. Necessary for maintaining the biochemical balance of all B vitamins when supplementing with any single B vitamin.
Vitamin B 1:
400 mg daily. Helps restore brain levels of the neurotransmitter acetycholine, a mood elevator.
Vitamin B 12:
2,000 mcg daily. Needed for making BH4, the raw material for synthesizing antidepression neurotransmitters. Always supplement when taking high amounts of folic acid.
Vitamin C:
1,000 mg three times daily. Needed for making BH4, the raw material for synthesizing antidepression neurotransmitters.
Folic Acid:
5 mg daily. Needed for making BH4, the raw material for synthesizing antidepression neurotransmitters.
L-tyrosine:
1,500 mg after breakfast and lunch. Deficiencies linked to depression.
DL-phenylalynine:
1,000 mg taken twice daily with L-tyrosine. Deficiencies linked to depression.
S-adenosylmethionine:
(SAMe) 400 mg twice daily for three weeks, then 200 mg daily for maintenance. Activates the brain to make the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.t
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