Information please!

[uni]

The more I try to find out about light therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) the more frustrated I get

I'm currently using one florescent-tube-type SAD light at home, and a portable blue-light one when I'm away. I have been having nothing but trouble programming the travel one, so I'm ready to chuck it. I have a chance to buy a white-light travel one from my sister, so on the weekend I tried it out. Long story short, in trying to help me out it seems my dear b/f fried the electrical connection. Now I need to decide what to get for a replacement. Which is where the frustration comes in.

As far as I can tell, Health Canada has no regulations about any SAD lights, meaning there are scads of them out there but no real guidelines on their use. I know it's not an exact science, but still...

So I'll go with common sense and do what seems reasonable - as I've been doing ever since I "inherited" my original light - and trust it'll be fine. However, I now see a whole new mission - delve further into this stuff. Any help is appreciated!

I did find one link worth sharing: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sea...atment/DN00013

[paul m]

Hello Uni. There are a couple of makers of SAD lamps in CDA. In particular Northern Technogies and Day Light have a good websites. The Center for Envoirnomental Theraputics also has a good site. The CET is a non profit group.

Most of what I have ever been able to find out is that blue lights are plain not reccomended any more. I am not saying that they aren't sold, just not reccomended by many places anymore

Day Lights doesn't carry very many products, but the Mood Disorder Association of Mantitoba rents their particular model for $20 a mth, which is a good deal for anyone in Mantioba.

I hope that this helps. Take Care. paul m

http://www.cet.org/eng/Therapy_LightboxSelection_ENG.html

http://www.northernlighttechnologies.ca/home#!__home

http://www.day-lights.com/canadaindex.html

[uni]

Thanks Paul. I've come across the CET and Day-Lights sites before and like them; they're certainly worth a re-read. The Northern Lights site with the blue light information is new to me. I've heard conflicting reports about blue light. In any case, I'm getting rid of mine to be on the safe side and to be consistent with white for home and travel.

It's interesting to read that the small size lights' effectiveness can be altered by the movements of your head, and that it's better to have the light come from above your eyes rather than below. This has me thinking that a travel light may not be as good as my larger one at home. I'll be checking out travel ones that are a bit bigger - if such animals exist. If not, a small one will have to do, as long as I position it properly.

My big concern remains the lack of government regulation. I guess it will take a few years until there are more studies done. Once their effectiveness is recognized - and I believe it will be - insurance companies will be more inclined to cover the cost. It's interesting to read that some insurance plans may cover the cost already. Mine didn't in the past, but I'll check again in case that's changed, although I doubt it. Has anybody here had experience with insurance paying for a SAD light?

I consider myself a "healthy skeptic" (my b/f calls it "jaded" and my sister calls it "paranoid" ) because I like cold hard facts to back up what I hear and read. Despite that, I know from experience that sitting in front of my light helps me feel better. Which is the main thing

A little quote from my mother - who in actual fact believed most of what she heard and saw, and therefore bought vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias from door-to-door salesmen - "Believe nothing you hear and only half you see"

[paul m]

Hello Uni. In regards to blue light. The CET site sez the following: "The lamps should give off white light rather than colored light. "Full spectrum" lamps and blue (or bluish) lamps provide no known therapeutic advantage. "

About the only people pushing blue light theses days seem to be the companies that make them.

I don't know why the Canadian Gov't doesn't regulate them. But a series of research papers back in the early 90's done by our National Research Council could find no benefit to SAD lights. Our Gov't can be a little slow admitting that they are wrong at times. So I am guessing that this is the reason. Even though Health Cda mentions SAD, they do not mention SAD lights as a possible treatment, only therapy and medications. (which is kinda sad in it's own right).

In regards to whether or not your insurance company will cover them. Sometimes it's a matter of getting a note from your GP explaining that he feels that you need one. Take Care. paul m

[uni]

Thanks Paul. I ended up chucking my little blue light and buying my sister's little white one for travel. It's not ideal - the travel ones never are because they're so small - but will serve the purpose. You just can't move your head around much when using it, to stay in the stream of light.

I was checking the web and phoning around, deciding which new one I might buy, when lo and behold a lady at one of the stores told me of an information session being held by the health region in Saskatoon. It's free, and I've signed up. It's not until December 16th, so I won't buy anything before that. Apparently a session was held in previously but I missed it. If anybody here lives in the area and wants info on it, send me a private message and I'll fill you in.
I personally think they should hold sessions around September. But beggars can't be choosers, and there's still a lot of winter left, so December isn't too bad. It's just that it takes a while after starting the light to notice an improvement in mood.

The same lady told me her store rents the light out by the month if you're not sure you want to buy one. Nice idea; never heard of it before.

[paul m]

Hello Uni. Thx for the info. Some places do rent out the lights and other places allow the rental portion to be applied to the final cost of the light. Like any thing else it's buyer(or renter) beware as some companies charge so much rent that you would more than pay for the lamp in one 4 mth season.

I know that you are not in Manitoba, but for anyone who is, the best place in Cda to rent a light is the Mood Disorders of Manitoba. At $20 per mth rent with the total rental going towards the $200 purchase price if someone decides to buy it, it's a real deal. Take Care. paul m http://www.depression.mb.ca/sad.htm

[Kaight]

Uni - I agree with the odd timing of the information session! Only 5 days away from the shortest day in the year...
Speaking of the shortest day in the year... only 21 (or 22?) days away! Personnally I value the winter solstice over what Christmas has become. I usually do a mini celebration (by myself - no one in my immediate circle seems to find it such a reason to celebrate). I think maybe there are some fellow celebrators on this forum?!

[paul m]

Hello Kaight. I too look forward to the days becoming longer. I don't hold a celebration or anything, but I could probably be talked into one. Take Care. paul m

[A.E.V.]

if I could sleep through december and january, I certainly would.
I do not celebrate winter solstice, nor do I want to celebrate christmas... but my family is adamant I do this year as it is the first one I will be attending in six or seven years.
can't I just HIBERNATE????

[Sweetest1]

We definitely celebrate the winter solstice at my house. I'd get rid of Christmas and just do presents on the 21st if I could.

[uni]

Rebecca, Anne, Paul: agreed, agreed, and agreed!

[paul m]

Hello Anne. Good luck with attending your family Christmas. I have no problem attending Christmas with my immediate family(wife, kids and their girl friends) but I have a lot of problems when I attend my more extended family gatherings( siblings, in-laws, cousins etc).

When I do agree to attend I try and make sure that I keep my exposure short(last in, first out) . I try and limit converstions that make me uncomfortable or upset( are you still not working, have you tried yoga etc, how come you never go to Florida) and I try to take short breaks by going for walks.

Nothing works perfectly, but having an advance plan does help me get through an event that I would rather not attend. Take Care. paul m P.S. I also don't leave home without my lorazepam(ativan)

[Kaight]

Anne - sometimes I wish I were a polar bear. For one, I could hibernate. Secondly, no one would comment on the fact that I'm still not working (reference Paul's post).

[paul m]

Hello Kaight. Being a hibernating bear could come in handy. Myself, I go more for the grouchy bear stlye whenever one of my relatives brings up something that I don't care to hear about. Now if only I could work on the cuddly bear image, I have the size(thx to pysch meds), but somehow I just always don't have the right frame of mind. Take Care. paul m