Light and happiness

Feeling blue during winter is a common experience. (Even looking at the photo to the left brought my mood down!) It’s easy to put it down to cold or rain or lack of holidays. But research over the last few decades has shown that it’s a lot to do with not getting enough sunlight. Light actually affects our moods so that if we get too little we feel miserable. Someone with a knack for acronyms has called it SAD, short for Seasonal Affective Disorder. But it doesn’t have to be winter for SAD to kick in – being stuck inside in summer can have the same impact.

The trick to feeling less SAD is to get exposed to direct daylight for 30 to 60 minutes each day. One study showed that this worked even in grey weather. On cooler days when it’s not so nice to be outside I sometimes open the window while I’m writing or reading and sit inside wrapped in warm clothes and blanket with the heater on! If I’m driving I have a window open so that the light can hit my eyes. You don’t have to look directly at the light – it’s a matter of looking at surfaces that are reflecting light. But it doesn’t seem to work through windows, which is a shame. Having a walk in the open air gives you a double whammy, combining bright light with exercise, also proven to improve mood. If you don’t find bright light enough to lift your mood on its own I suggest combining it with one or two or three other approaches, until you hit the magic ‘feel good’ zone.

For people who experience very dark, long winters or find it difficult to get outside for health reasons there’s an easier way – using a light box. This emits light at 10,000 lux, proven to reduce seasonal depression. Some firms are selling boxes with light at the blue end of the spectrum but the research still seems a bit mixed so personally I would stick with boxes that use full spectrum light. Light boxes are even helpful for people who suffer non-seasonal depression according to recent research. A commercial light box from a reputable firm is most likely to be effective with minimal side effects because it’s made to strict specifications. You can set it up on your kitchen table and turn it on for 15 to 60 minutes a day while you eat or read. For useful and reliable information on light boxes visit www.cet.org , a nonprofit website on all kinds of environmental therapies. Unfortunately they don’t ship to New Zealand but if you want to know who does I can give you details. I thought I might need one to get through the long Waikato winter as I wasn’t well enough to exercise, but I found that sitting with the window open or sitting outside when it was sunny was enough combined with everything else I do.