# Important information for people with SAD (Winter related depression) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569 "2001-01-24T16:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569/1 "2001-01-24T16:26:10Z")
[http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010123/hl/light\_1.html](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010123/hl/light_1.html) Talks about light therapy for SAD and how matching the therapy to normal circadian rythms improves the therapy. > [@](#): > > SAD patients who underwent the early morning light therapy sessions had an 80% chance of sending their depression completely into remission, explained Terman. ---
**Author:** ![purrplebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90ced4/32.png) [@purrplebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purrplebear)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569/2 "2001-01-24T16:48:52Z")
Thank you, Zy. I’ll check it out asap. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569/3 "2001-01-24T17:05:13Z")
My Dad has SAD, and has been using light therapy for the last four or five years. It has made wondrous improvements to his winter personality. We can’t recommend it highly enough, especially since it is relatively inexpensive and easy to administer. I’m going to ask him about the timing though. Thanks! 🙂 Tisiphone ---
**Author:** ![Lost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/22d042/32.png) [@Lost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569/4 "2001-01-25T02:50:30Z")
FWIW, for years now I’ve had a cheap household timer turn on a small lamp near my bed every morning at about 5am. I don’t wake up until 6:30 or so, but I found the light to be a lot of help for my own SAD. A couple of years ago I put a full spectrum bulb in the lamp, but I couldn’t say that it makes much difference. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-information-for-people-with-sad-winter-related-depression/51569/5 "2001-01-25T03:08:20Z")
My mom suffered from SAD. She used the full-spectrum lights, and they helped her a lot. When I began a job wroking third shift, I began to notice some problems in myself, so I called my mom and asked her about it. She said it sounded like SAD, so I blamed it on her, and she bought me some lights (my mom & I are like that :D). I went to a lighting store here, and asked a clerk if he could point me in the direction of some full-spectrum lights. Without missing a beat, he asked me “for iguanas, marijuana, or seasonal affective disorder?” After I got done laughing, I told him they were for SAD, and he found me some nice-sized, relatively inexpensive ones. They worked well. My mood started to improve pretty quickly. I got a decent job a few years later, where I was working days in an office with very large windows, and a lot of natural sunlight. The lights became unnecessary, so I gave them to a friend, who had recently been diagnosed with SAD by a doctor. He likes them. Now, though, while I’m still working days, I’m in a different office, and the lighting is sucky. It’s nearly windowless. A few of us have asked if we can get full-spectrum lights over our desks, but so far, no dice. We’re going to keep trying, though.