SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER (S.A.D.)

'WINTER DEPRESSION'

Fight Tiredness and Lack of Energy and Keep Healthy with BIOPTRON Light Therapy

VIDEO

The long nights and dull days of winter can cause some people to experience feelings of low mood; this is called 'seasonal affective disorder' or 'winter depression'. Seasonal affective disorder is characterised by the inability to feel happy or to experience pleasure (depression), an increased need for sleep, profound tiredness (fatigue), an increased appetite (particularly for carbohydrate-rich foods - bread, potatoes, pasta etc.) and associated weight gain during the winter months. Typically winter depression symptoms involve chronic fatigue syndrome, lowered motivation, hypersomnia (needing to sleep alot) asthenic conditions (feelings of general weakness and tiredness).

Seasonal affective disorder is believed to be caused by an imbalance in the production of an important chemical called a hormone that affects the area of the brain which triggers our sleep pattern. Production of this 'sleep hormone' called melatonin, is usually turned off in the morning in response to increased light levels and then turned on again at night.

The sleep hormone levels of people with varying degrees of seasonal affective disorder do not fall in the morning and so they continue to feel tired and sleepy all day.

The main treatments for seasonal affective disorder is bring light therapy, such as BIOPTRON Light therapy. These increased light levels are believed to cause a significant reduction in the sleep hormone melatonin and thereby positively reduce feelings of sleepiness during the day time.

BIOPTRON light allows you to safely get the amount of light you need to fight winter blues and recharge your batteries with positive energy.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by a combination of symptoms such as:

- Chronic fatigue
- Lowered motivation
- Increased need of sleep
- Increased appetite and
  consequent weight gain
- Inability to feel happy

HOW DOES BIOPTRON LIGHT THERAPY INFLUENCE SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER SYMPTOMS?

Conventional light boxes supply a dose of 10,000 light units (called lux) and daily treatment sessions are approximately 30 minutes in duration.

The LUX intensity generated by BIOPTRON Light Therapy Systems are:

BIOPTRON MedAll = more than 10,000 lux

BIOPTRON Pro 1 = more than 10,000 lux

BIOPTRON 2 = more than 10,000 lux

For comparison, indoor light is around 5,000 lux,
outdoor light (on a cloudy day) is up to 5,000 lux and during midday summer time can reach at least 50,000 lux. So BIOPTRON Light Therapy is ideal for use in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder.

- 20 - 40 minute treatment period at a distance from the face of 20cm

- 40 - 60 minute treatment period at a distance from the face of 30cm

- 60 - 120 minute treatment period at a distance from the face of 40cm

The eyes should be open during the treatment but not staring directly into the BIOPTRON Light Therapy System device. You may be reading or writing for it is the action on the important melatonin level through indirect stimulation of the increased light level which has this powerful effect on SAD and related symptoms.

Scientific Reference List