Guest guest Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Hi Everyone; Since I started a thread on depression last week out of concern for my daughter, who had recently started taking anti-depressants... I thought some of you might be interested in our latest news. As a result of the reading I've been doing aimed at identifying a natural, health-supporting method to assist her in uplifting her spirits... I remembered her telling me years ago that she suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). At the time she told me, nothing needed to be done. It seems that her current circumstances tipped the scale though, because the timing of the problem is a clue. She made the choice to take the anti-depressants around Christmas: the darkest time of the year where we live. Apparently, for people who suffer from SAD, approximately 30 minutes per day of exposure to a the special high intensity therapeutic light can be as effective as taking anti-depressant... minus the threats of negative side effects and addiction! To my great delight, she has embraced this idea and decided to give the light a try. The way I see it, she wasn't suffering from a deficiency of anti-depressants but she was suffering from a deficiency of light. Supplement the missing element just makes so much more sense than treating the symptom. She will begin with the light as soon as she gets it, which will be in about a week, and hopefully, begin weaning back off the anti-depressants. Thankfully, we've managed to find this alternative early since negative side effects and addiction to anti-depressants tends to increase over time. Thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in our process. It helped! Deborah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I get SAD as well, and going gluten-free has made a big difference this year. Prior to that, I found that it was not light that affected my SAD, but smell. My SAD would always start to get better before the shortest night of the year. Anyway, loss of smell/taste can cause depression quite effectively. There are some links being discovered between smell and SAD, but so far the researchers are at a loss as to causation. But I did find that the most common causes of loss of smell/taste are (a) congestion and (b) low humidity (the nasal membranes get dried out). So watch for seasonal allergies or viruses, invest in a humidifier, and look into aromatherapy scents which are " activating " (there are a number which are actually proven to alter brain waves.) Pam On 2/22/09, Deborah Pageau <dpageau wrote: > Hi Everyone; > > Since I started a thread on depression last week out of concern for my > daughter, who had recently started taking anti-depressants... I thought some > of you might be interested in our latest news. > > As a result of the reading I've been doing aimed at identifying a natural, > health-supporting method to assist her in uplifting her spirits... I > remembered her telling me years ago that she suffers from Seasonal Affective > Disorder (SAD). > > At the time she told me, nothing needed to be done. It seems that her > current circumstances tipped the scale though, because the timing of the > problem is a clue. She made the choice to take the anti-depressants around > Christmas: the darkest time of the year where we live. > > Apparently, for people who suffer from SAD, approximately 30 minutes per day > of exposure to a the special high intensity therapeutic light can be as > effective as taking anti-depressant... minus the threats of negative side > effects and addiction! > > To my great delight, she has embraced this idea and decided to give the > light a try. The way I see it, she wasn't suffering from a deficiency of > anti-depressants but she was suffering from a deficiency of light. > Supplement the missing element just makes so much more sense than treating > the symptom. > > She will begin with the light as soon as she gets it, which will be in about > a week, and hopefully, begin weaning back off the anti-depressants. > Thankfully, we've managed to find this alternative early since negative side > effects and addiction to anti-depressants tends to increase over time. > > Thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in our process. It helped! > > Deborah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Interesting thoughts about SAD and smell, Pam! I got a SAD full-spectrum, 10,000-luxe light this year to battle my winter blues, and it's definitely helped. (It's not the only thing I did, but I have eschewed antidepressants this time around because of potential side effects and addiction.) I sit under it for 30 minutes each morning while I eat my breakfast and check my email or read. Sometimes I get a craving to sit under it longer, so I indulge that, but I don't do longer than an hour because of some concern that I might be in the small percentage of people who get manic when they 'overdose' on the light. I originally wanted an expensive model but scaled back; this is the mid-priced model I ended up buying after doing some research, and I've been happy with it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009MFUWC?ie=UTF8 & tag=aprovechar0e-20 & linkCode\ =as2 & camp=1789 & creative=390957 & creativeASIN=B0009MFUWC I have written about my experience with depression this winter and what I've done to combat it at this post on my blog, as well: http://aprovechar.danandsally.com/?p=634 Deborah, for what it's worth, I read a few days ago about a study that appears to show that dance-related classes are better mood boosters than other forms of exercise. I work out regularly but not usually with dance---I love dance but am self-conscious about how long it takes me to learn steps. I went to a hula-hooping dance class yesterday since it's not just dance and you're naturally going to look a bit silly, and it seemed to boost my energy and mood through last night and still now. Sally On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 11:53 PM, pdw <pdworkman wrote: > I get SAD as well, and going gluten-free has made a big difference this > year. > > Prior to that, I found that it was not light that affected my SAD, but > smell. My SAD would always start to get better before the shortest > night of the year. Anyway, loss of smell/taste can cause depression > quite effectively. There are some links being discovered between > smell and SAD, but so far the researchers are at a loss as to > causation. > > But I did find that the most common causes of loss of smell/taste are > (a) congestion and (b) low humidity (the nasal membranes get dried > out). So watch for seasonal allergies or viruses, invest in a > humidifier, and look into aromatherapy scents which are " activating " > (there are a number which are actually proven to alter brain waves.) > > Pam > > > On 2/22/09, Deborah Pageau <dpageau <dpageau%40dccnet.com>> > wrote: > > Hi Everyone; > > > > Since I started a thread on depression last week out of concern for my > > daughter, who had recently started taking anti-depressants... I thought > some > > of you might be interested in our latest news. > > > > As a result of the reading I've been doing aimed at identifying a > natural, > > health-supporting method to assist her in uplifting her spirits... I > > remembered her telling me years ago that she suffers from Seasonal > Affective > > Disorder (SAD). > > > > At the time she told me, nothing needed to be done. It seems that her > > current circumstances tipped the scale though, because the timing of the > > problem is a clue. She made the choice to take the anti-depressants > around > > Christmas: the darkest time of the year where we live. > > > > Apparently, for people who suffer from SAD, approximately 30 minutes per > day > > of exposure to a the special high intensity therapeutic light can be as > > effective as taking anti-depressant... minus the threats of negative side > > effects and addiction! > > > > To my great delight, she has embraced this idea and decided to give the > > light a try. The way I see it, she wasn't suffering from a deficiency of > > anti-depressants but she was suffering from a deficiency of light. > > Supplement the missing element just makes so much more sense than > treating > > the symptom. > > > > She will begin with the light as soon as she gets it, which will be in > about > > a week, and hopefully, begin weaning back off the anti-depressants. > > Thankfully, we've managed to find this alternative early since negative > side > > effects and addiction to anti-depressants tends to increase over time. > > > > Thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in our process. It helped! > > > > Deborah > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Sally, thanks for sharing your success story with the SAD light. I am passing this along to my daughter. You and she have quite a bit in common! I think she may enjoy and benefit from your blog! You may even hear from her at some point! Deborah Interesting thoughts about SAD and smell, Pam! I got a SAD full-spectrum, 10,000-luxe light this year to battle my winter blues, and it's definitely helped. (It's not the only thing I did, but I have eschewed antidepressants this time around because of potential side effects and addiction.) I sit under it for 30 minutes each morning while I eat my breakfast and check my email or read. Sometimes I get a craving to sit under it longer, so I indulge that, but I don't do longer than an hour because of some concern that I might be in the small percentage of people who get manic when they 'overdose' on the light. I originally wanted an expensive model but scaled back; this is the mid-priced model I ended up buying after doing some research, and I've been happy with it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009MFUWC?ie=UTF8 & tag=aprovechar0e-20 & linkCode\ =as2 & camp=1789 & creative=390957 & creativeASIN=B0009MFUWC I have written about my experience with depression this winter and what I've done to combat it at this post on my blog, as well: http://aprovechar.danandsally.com/?p=634 Deborah, for what it's worth, I read a few days ago about a study that appears to show that dance-related classes are better mood boosters than other forms of exercise. I work out regularly but not usually with dance---I love dance but am self-conscious about how long it takes me to learn steps. I went to a hula-hooping dance class yesterday since it's not just dance and you're naturally going to look a bit silly, and it seemed to boost my energy and mood through last night and still now. Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks Pam. I get SAD as well, and going gluten-free has made a big difference this year. Prior to that, I found that it was not light that affected my SAD, but smell. My SAD would always start to get better before the shortest night of the year. Anyway, loss of smell/taste can cause depression quite effectively. There are some links being discovered between smell and SAD, but so far the researchers are at a loss as to causation. But I did find that the most common causes of loss of smell/taste are (a) congestion and (b) low humidity (the nasal membranes get dried out). So watch for seasonal allergies or viruses, invest in a humidifier, and look into aromatherapy scents which are " activating " (there are a number which are actually proven to alter brain waves.) Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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