Turn On The Light

It’s Time To Turn On The Light

The last couple of days have been sunny in Southwestern Ohio, but today I woke up to a dusting of snow and completely gray skies. It’s early afternoon and I am insisting that we turn on the living room light. We are past the winter solstice so the days are slowly getting longer, which warms my heart, however my Seasonal Affective Disorder is still in full swing.

I’ve written a couple different blog posts about Seasonal Affective Disorder. You can read them HERE and HERE. I hope you find them informative!

Feeling Sad, Because…SAD

When SAD is kicking, all I want to do is sink into the couch with a blanket and not come up for air until it’s time to go back to bed. I’ve really got to be careful because if I allow myself to do that, I’ll feel a lot of guilt and anxiety about not being productive and the negative whispers in my head will begin. “You’re so lazy. You should be running around taking care of things, and here you sit. Talk about being selfish.” If I’ve reached this point, shame and sadness are about to strike, which means depression is right around the corner.

Curse This Dreary Grayness

It’s the grayness that does me in everytime. The lack of healthy light. It’s the exposure to light that activates our neurotransmitters that tell our brain to produce the serotonin that boosts our mood and happiness. Curse the gray skies that deprive me of my “Happy Hormone”!

Is The Living Room Light Enough?

Nope. And that’s a BIG nope! Indoor lighting averages about 500-1000 lux (lux is the measuring unit of light). Considering the whopping 50,000 lux you can get while spending a sunny day outdoors, there’s no comparison. But during this time of year, it can be difficult to reach that level when I spend the majority of the daytime hours indoors at work or when the sun just doesn’t come out. I’ve spent so many years dreading the coming of December because I knew depression was unavoidable and that I wouldn’t escape it until late March. I was just so fed up with living like that. It’s exhausting!

Here’s What I’m Doing About It

Two words: Light. Therapy. I had read about this before, but was skeptical, as I tend to be about a lot of things. But my therapist also highly recommended it, so I thought I’d give it a try. I had nothing to lose, so why not? That year I bought myself a therapy lamp.

At first, I didn’t really notice whether it was working or not. I was still grouchy and irritable and would feel horribly disappointed when I’d wake up and the sun wasn’t out. There were also days where I would use it and then go directly to my couch, stare at my phone, and spend the next 10 hours berating myself for being worthless.

But I stuck with it, and I’m so glad that I did. When I used the light consistently, I eventually found myself wanting to tackle my to do list. I went looking for creative things to do that kept my mind sharp. I looked forward to going out and spending time with my family and friends. And if you’re an introvert like me, you know how huge that last one is!

A therapy light gives off 10,000 lux, so it is definitely not a replacement for the 50,000 lux you can get from natural sunlight. But it’s a God-send on those days when the clouds are thick and relentless. Progress may not have been as fast as I wanted (because I expected results like, yesterday!), but it was an improvement and I felt so much better about myself. If my story sound familiar to you, I highly recommend trying light therapy. It’s a great drug free way to help with those winter doldrums.