How Light Therapy Works:
Scientists believe that light therapy works on several different levels, producing a combined beneficial effect. When used at an appropriate morning hour (or in rare cases, evening hour), it corrects the misalignment of the internal body clock with external night and day. Light therapy stimulates the brain's production of neurochemicals that are thought to be antidepressant (and in that sense, it mimics drug effects in a more natural way, without the need for drugs). This explains why when people are not getting the light they require, they feel lethargic, less motivated and experience depressed mood.
Although judicious exposure to sunlight - when available - can act like light therapy, this method would not be practical for most people with contemporary lifestyles and careers. The key is to reset the internal biological clock, which begins to run late as the sunrise gets later and later in the fall and winter.
Therefore researchers use light boxes to simulate the effects of daylight. By sitting in front of a light box for about 20-30 minutes, the brain is tricked into thinking you are in the brighter part of the day. Optimum light therapy usually works best the first thing in the morning, shortly after awakening.
With thousands of people having tested bright light therapy, three important facts emerged:
- Debilitating, full-blown Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can be reversed within days of appropriate treatment - an unprecedented result never achieved by antidepressant drugs.
- People with milder winter doldrums - who can cope, but still suffer - respond just as well to light therapy as those with major mood disorders.
- People feeling down in the dumps at other times of year - or even with continuous, chronic mood disorder - also respond to light therapy. (Just think of the time a person spends in dim indoor light.)
So as a drug-free, low-risk treatment option, light therapy is a good place to start.
