SAD / light boxes - does anyone have any experience of these?

[Frieda]

I have been thinking about trying one of these light boxes for the winter blues , but they're really expensive. I wondered if anyone had any experience or could direct me to any sources of information as to what to look out for and whether they really work.

Thanks in advance

Frieda, my friend has one of these as she has suffered on and off with winter depression for years, with last year being her worst so far, so she invested in one of these. It seems to have got her as far as January, but she started to get depressed again last week and went to see the doc who gave her some a-d's.

Thanks for that, dogmother. It sounds as though your friend felt the light box was some use then.

(By the way, my acupuncturist told me yesterday that the last week in January is officially the worst week in the whole year!)

The ones that have appealed to me most are the 'dawn simulating' alarm clock lamps - it's the dark mornings that really get to me.
Cheapest one seems to be about £60, which is less than a lightbox, but perhaps not as helpful.
Have you tried 'daylight simulating' lightbulbs? Again probably not as effective but much much cheaper!

our work has them i dont think they do anything tbh

I have SAD

When I worked in an office I used to be really bad

Now I work in my conservatory and I feel much better

Hi - thanks for your responses (& sorry to hear you have experienced SAD, katymac, though it sounds as though a bit of extra sunlight may be helping you ).

I've heard about those dawn lamps, Mrs Badger, and I quite fancied getting one, although I have heard that they don't have the lux power of the SAD lightboxes themselves - it seems to be the light intensity of full-spectrum light you need to have to activate the anti-depressant response.

To be honest, I'm not sure I actually have SAD, but have been battling with depression on and off for as long as I can remember. Have tried therapy - CBT, Jungian, Freudian, integrated, you name it - as well as acupuncture, ADs (both SSRIs and tricyclics) - to no avail, or at least not for very long. I feel as though things are worse in winter (although that may simply be because it's winter at the moment and I'm feeling a bit rubbish) and would be prepared to give almost anything a shot if I thought there was a cat in hell's chance it might help.

Thanks again, and if anyone has any details about the actual lights themselves, what to look for and where to get hold of them, I'd really really appreciate it.

Frieda - I also think Reflexology has helped me. I have gone from working - well managing 20 hrs a week in April 03 to working 50 plus now - but I have had reflexology for an hour every two weeks over that time - it's not a cheap cure

btw I had ME/IBS and was recovering from an ectopic pregnancy (which had burst) so I was fairly depressed

You poor thing, katymac - that all sounds a horrendous thing to go through. I hope things are looking up for you now.

No, it seems there's no such thing as a cheap cure. I think a lot probably depends on the skill of your practitioner, too. I'll certainly look into reflexology.

Thanks