Seasonal Affective Disorder patients often feel desperate for help.  There symptoms are often overwhelming and the depression and symptoms brought on by SAD can push anyone to the edge.  Light therapy is a common solution to this problem.  Light therapy is a preferred and recommended treatment for anyone suffering from SAD. 

If you suffer from SAD, you have probably heard about, or even experimented with light therapy.  Many who try the treatment report amazing results and incredible improvements in quality of life and symptoms.  If you have never tried light therapy, you may be skeptical.  I mean, how can light seriously improve how you feel right?  The answer may surprise you. 

Light is actually at the core of the problem.  It is actually lack of light exposure that causes Seasonal Affective Disorder.  When the winter months hit, the sun goes away and the SAD symptoms come in.  Inside the body is a hormone known as melatonin.  Melatonin works with the body in several capacities including sleep patterns, immune system and much more.  Lack of sun equals more melatonin production, which means SAD.  Light therapy fixes that.  Light therapy projects florescent, intense light for a period of time to reverse this process and help you feel better.  Just 30 minutes a day with the light box can help.  Usually, patients sit in front of the light box after waking up for best results. 

If you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you may feel like your whole world is in disarray.  Depression is very difficult to deal with, and you may feel like you can hardly cope each and every winter.  In spite of the fact that they’re shorter, the days seem longer and longer and your energy littler and littler.  With each passing day, as the temperature soars downward, you can feel as if your mood is taking a perilous plunge.  You can feel extremely lethargic, only wanting to sleep.  You can lack the energy to do anything and only have the desire to avoid people at all costs.  SAD is a difficult disorder that affects many just like you who deal with shorter days, and little sunlight.  There are effective treatments to help you feel better and enjoy your life, even if the weather doesn’t want you to. 

One of the main treatments for SAD is light therapy.  Light therapy is a suitable treatment for you if you have learned about it and request treatment from your doctor.  It is also good if you have never experienced adverse reactions from light therapy before.  A doctor can also prescribe light therapy as a suitable and needed treatment for your SAD symptoms. 

Light therapy is usually conducted with a light box or SAD lamp.  The lamp projects artificial light and helps patients receive light and its benefits even in the dark, winter months. 

How do you know if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder?  It’s cold, you feel tired, and you feel irritable, so you must have SAD right?  Be careful, diagnosing SAD may not be that easy. 

Sure, SAD carries symptoms of lethargy, lack of energy and increased need for sleep.  You feel increased desires for carbohydrates and an increased appetite in general.  You want to sleep all the time and you even want to avoid people and be alone.  You feel depressed and sad all throughout the gloomy winter.  There’s a whole host of symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder and many of these symptoms signal SAD.  There are, in addition, a few scientific reasons and causes for SAD. 

Lack of light triggers SAD.  Light is necessary for the body to function.  Light helps us move along and provides energy and other vital necessities.  Light also aids in the production of Melatonin.  Melatonin is a hormone that works with light.  When it becomes dark, Melatonin works on the body to tell it to sleep.  Melatonin is even involved with the immune system, stress response and the body’s temperatures.  When SAD kicks in, Melatonin doesn’t work as well and many of the body’s normal functions perform at a much slower rate.  Doctors can check levels of Melatonin to determine if someone has SAD.  Also, low levels of the neurotransmitter, serotonin, indicate SAD. 

Seasonal Affective disorder can be a difficult and trying disease.  SAD can have you dreading each winter and barely making it through those long, harsh cold months.  SAD can attack everything from your desire to socialize and be with family and friends to your eating habits.  SAD attacks your energy and leaves you feeling lethargic, slow, and also needing sleep.  SAD can have you feeling as if there is no light in the world, each and every winter.  Fortunately, there are treatment plans to help those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. 

One of the most common treatments for SAD is light therapy.  Light therapy usually employs the use of some lamp device that provides light.  Those who suffer from SAD lack light exposure and light therapy gives them what they need.  If you suffer from SAD, you might wonder if light therapy really works, and if there are any side effects. 

First, it does work.  Second, the side effects associated with light therapy are relatively mild.  Those who experience side effects can experience headaches,  nausea, eye strain or increased irritability and anxiety.  Many of these side effects, however, are only temporary and occur at the beginning of light therapy.  As the patient adjusts to the treatment and light exposure, side effects will often go away.  It is best to consult