Seasonal Affective Disorder - Here's some help -

Every year by the end of October, I started to feel lower and lower levels of energy. Everything was more difficult to do and as the winter wore on, I wanted to sleep more and more, felt a low grade depression. Then in the Spring, all of a sudden, I felt better!

Well, I couldn't go on this way. I started to look for answers. There weren't many until a little gadget came along. It was very expensive. I didn't care. I needed to get this issue resolved! So I bought it. What a difference! After using it for a week, my whole body changed. I put it on while I worked on the computer and it worked like a charm.

Later, I found out why. Hey, when you are feeling as bad as I was, you don't care how it works - you just want to try everything in site until something helps. Those who suffer from this mood disorder will understand what I'm talking about!

It was full-spectrum lighting - a light source that mimics sunlight! I was already exercising so adding this little "dose" of "happy light" every day did it. I don't suffer any more from it. Instead, I can get through winter now quite full of energy and "normal"!

Some of the symptoms people suffer from are:

• sleep too much or insomnia
• don't feel rested after long hours of sleep
• exercise becomes more and more difficult to do
• low energy
• crave sweets and starchy foods
• depression
• overeating or decreased appetite
• difficulty concentrating on completing tasks
• withdrawal from social connections - friends, family, activities
• growing pessimism
• lack of pleasure
• anxiety, irritability
• weight gain or weight loss
• decreased sex drive

What this boils down to is that your behavior changes and your thoughts become much darker. (you can find more detailed information on Widipedia).

For me, it changed to a happier disposition when I got my little light. Because it was portable, it was so much easier to use.

SAD is related to the amount of light a person gets every day.

In the winter, many people in the world are exposed to decreased amounts of light. They find they go to bed in the dark, wake up in the dark, travel to work in the dark and travel home from work in the dark.

Today's workplaces too do not offer many workers direct access to light during the day because most of the executive offices occupy the window spaces in offices and others work in the middle of the office space, allowing little to no natural light especially if there are partitions in the room. Some people work in warehouses or other windowless places. Did you ever notice that people who work outdoors or in vehicles such as truck drivers are happier than the rest of the populatio? Because they get a lot of natural light during their work day.

The full-spectrum light gives that much needed light to stimulate the light recpetors in the eye's retina signaling neurological receptors and energizing important centers of the body. Your hormones levels are raised and your body rhythms are restored, thus, you get that "feeling better" feeling as you do in the Spring.

 Please share your experiences with others . . . . make your comment below.  How have you coped with your with SAD?