Various options for SAD lights
Posted on | September 23, 2007 | Comments Off
Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is caused by inadequate exposure to sunlight during the winter days. This reduction in light can be countered by using SAD light boxes.
SAD light boxes generally use a number of long fluorescent tubes as the light source. These provide high intensity light. Some hospitals have SAD light therapy rooms to help out patients affected with SAD. You can get a SAD light therapy box for personal use, but most of them are pretty expensive.
Although SAD light boxes use light of high intensity, the electricity usage cost is not great as these are not used for a long time. Most of the SAD light boxes create at least 10,000 lux of light intensity. This may sound bright, but when you consider the light intensity outside on a sunny day, which may be as high as 90,000 lux, you don’t feel that this intensity is too high. At 10,000 lux, you can easily read a book comfortably without hurting your eyes. The typical SAD light box is about two feet long, light in weight and about 10 cm deep.
Earlier people used to think that using full-spectrum bulbs that simulated the natural white light of the sun was better. But today, many scientists are of the opinion that the intensity of the light on a person’s eyes is more important than the appearance of the light. Intensity of light is also dependant on how far your eyes are from the light box. If you compare SAD light boxes from various manufacturers, you should go for the ones that produce 10,000 lux light intensity at a greater distance, as lights of such intensity can be harmful at a close range. A space of about 50 to 60 cm is generally good for the eyes.
Other than SAD light therapy boxes, devices like dawn simulators also help achieve the same effect of combating SAD. They generally come with built-in alarm clocks. About half an hour before your alarm goes off, a dawn simulator gradually begins to brighten the light to simulate the coming up of the sun. Similar to real sunlight, this light will penetrate your eyelids even though you may be sleeping.
