Any of you tried a "light therapy" lamp?

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avatar33

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Dec 5, 2009
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so most of us sit in front of the computer for hours and are exposed to very little sunlight. This contributes to depression, anxiety and a bunch of other mental disorders.

I have been doing some research and found this lamp on Amazon which seems to have amazing reviews: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/NatureBright-SunTouch-Plus-Light-Therapy/dp/B000W8Y7FY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1352847305&sr=8-5&keywords=lamp+health]Amazon.com: NatureBright SunTouch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp: Health & Personal Care[/ame]

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Any of you tried something like this? Discuss.
 


Got the Philips goLITE BLU. Tested it 2 weeks. Can't say i noticed any effect,
perhaps i should do it longer.
 
A roommate in college had seasonal affective disorder (winter depression) and used a "sun" lamp similar to this. It seemed to help him beat the winter blues. But then again, it could have been the anti-depressants he was shoveling down his throat.
 
Sounds like pseudoscience. What is proven is that a lack of Vitamin D will cause all the symptoms mentioned. That requires either taking supplements, or being exposed to UV light from the sun. This thing doesn't emit UV, so I'm not sure what it does besides power some fluorescent tubes of a blue colour.
 
JRose said:
A roommate in college had seasonal affective disorder (winter depression)
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I've always wondered just how far in advance the marketing was done for branding seasonal affective disorder as a "thing". Do you think they tried any alternatives like adverse seasonal symptoms?
 
I don't know about going as far as saying I have some sort of fucking disorder, but living near the great lakes there's a lot of cloudy overcast skies, and in the winter when it's freezing like fuck out and the sun rarely shines, it sucks.
 
dreamache said:
I don't know about going as far as saying I have some sort of fucking disorder, but living near the great lakes there's a lot of cloudy overcast skies, and in the winter when it's freezing like fuck out and the sun rarely shines, it sucks.
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Get some full spectrum bulbs. They're popular in countries with long, dark winters. They'll make your place look warmer, too.
 
johnmatrix said:
Sounds like pseudoscience. What is proven is that a lack of Vitamin D will cause all the symptoms mentioned. That requires either taking supplements, or being exposed to UV light from the sun. This thing doesn't emit UV, so I'm not sure what it does besides power some fluorescent tubes of a blue colour.
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This is technically correct. The box my roommate had did emit UV light. UV light therapy is a pretty standard clinical treatment when someone is diagnosed with SAD. Plenty of studies have shown that UV light therapy is effective to vary degrees, but I don't have any personal experience conducting clinical studies on the matter so I can only go off what those studies report. If this box doesn't emit UV lights, then it won't stimulate production of vitamin D and is probably useless in treating depression, SAD or otherwise.

dreamache said:
I don't know about going as far as saying I have some sort of fucking disorder, but living near the great lakes there's a lot of cloudy overcast skies, and in the winter when it's freezing like fuck out and the sun rarely shines, it sucks.
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Completely agree. Long winters and basically 9 months of cloudy, overcast skies sucks. But in summer we also have some of the most beautiful freshwater coastlines in the country (at least on the Michigan side of things, not sure about Ohio/Wisconsin/etc., but I'd assume that holds true for them as well). And those summer months make up for the rest of the grey and cloudy days for me.
 
I have been doing some research and found this lamp on Amazon which seems to have amazing reviews: Amazon

41j3weQhldL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Any of you tried something like this? Discuss.
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Is this proven? I wanna hear some of the reviews of this product. Thanks!
 
JRose said:
This is technically correct. The box my roommate had did emit UV light. UV light therapy is a pretty standard clinical treatment when someone is diagnosed with SAD. Plenty of studies have shown that UV light therapy is effective to vary degrees, but I don't have any personal experience conducting clinical studies on the matter so I can only go off what those studies report. If this box doesn't emit UV lights, then it won't stimulate production of vitamin D and is probably useless in treating depression, SAD or otherwise.
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You are wrong. Sitting in front of a lamp blasting you with UV rays will fuck you up in all kinds of ways, these lamps are specifically designed to reproduce bright sunlight while filtering out any harmful UV rays.

These lamps work perfectly well and works by tricking your body to produce less melatonin and more seratonin so you feel better by hitting your retinas with bright, safe light. Melatonin is produced when your retinas are in the dark (hence why you get tired when you're in a dark room) and seratonin production is somewhat connected with being exposed to bright clean light.

The production of the hormone melatonin, a sleep regulator, is inhibited by light and permitted by darkness as registered by photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina. To some degree, the reverse is true for serotonin, which has been linked to mood disorders. Hence, for the purpose of manipulating melatonin levels or timing, light boxes providing very specific types of artificial illumination to the retina of the eye are effective.
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Light therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Light boxes have nothing to do with Vitamin D production and are very much not pseudoscience, they're just a safe reproduction of sunlight for people who don't get enough time outside everyday.
 
charlesmartel said:
Get some full spectrum light bulbs. They mimic sunlight and help with moods.
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charlesmartel said:
Get some full spectrum bulbs. They're popular in countries with long, dark winters. They'll make your place look warmer, too.
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Full spectrum bulbs don't do anything: Light therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The lamps should give off white light rather than colored light. "Full spectrum" lamps and blue (or bluish) lamps provide no known therapeutic advantage.
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CET - Center for Environmental Therapeutics
 
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