News
Shorter Days, Less Light
People can feel blue as the days get shorter.
Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mood disorder that brings episodes of depression associated with seasonal variations of light. Biologists believe that because living things evolved to change with the seasons, it may have become normal for people to experience some seasonal variation in biological rhythms such as for sleeping and appetite.
The SAD got its name in the early 1980s. Within a decade, researchers shed light in this mysterious disorder and developed a relatively simple treatment using very bright lights. Researchers hypothesised that its typical appearance with winter had something to do with lowered exposure to sunlight. The obvious next step was to lengthen exposure to light intensity more akin to outdoor levels; it worked.
Phototherapy, with morning exposures of lights 10-20 times brighter than standard ones, seems also effective in treating depression.
Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mood disorder that brings episodes of depression associated with seasonal variations of light. Biologists believe that because living things evolved to change with the seasons, it may have become normal for people to experience some seasonal variation in biological rhythms such as for sleeping and appetite.
The SAD got its name in the early 1980s. Within a decade, researchers shed light in this mysterious disorder and developed a relatively simple treatment using very bright lights. Researchers hypothesised that its typical appearance with winter had something to do with lowered exposure to sunlight. The obvious next step was to lengthen exposure to light intensity more akin to outdoor levels; it worked.
Phototherapy, with morning exposures of lights 10-20 times brighter than standard ones, seems also effective in treating depression.