Posted by ksvt on November 1, 2000, at 22:21:36
In reply to Re: light boxes links/SAD/Norman Rosenthal » ksvt, posted by Leonardo on November 1, 2000, at 12:32:35
>Leonardo - I've seen pictures of people using light boxes and they're holding them and staring into them. Your post suggests that you can actually do something else while you're in range. It's much to important to me to feel like I'm accomplishing things to sit idly. How much freedon of movement do you have and still maintain the benefits? Thanks for your info. ksvt
If you go to the links page of http://www.normanrosenthal.com/
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> you will find some (but not all) of the main lightbox suppliers. Norman Rosenthal is supposed to be the world expert on SAD - he identified and named the condition!
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> Last winter I bought and used a 'light visor but did not find it very effective, though I definitely perk up in the presence of bright lights.
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> I may buy a lightbox this year (if I can afford it), as I don't think the visor is bright enough, but I've just started using it again as its the best I have so far. If you think it will help, go for the biggest and brightest box you can find/afford. Apollo claim that the other manufacturers boxes have been found to be not as bright as they claimed, under independent tests... http://www.apollolight.com/
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> You need to sit at the specified distance to get the specified brightness (20 inches for 10,000 lux for 30 mins is the usual spec these days). You don't need to stare at the light but it needs to be in the periphery of your vision. It works by the light entering your eyes - skin illumination has no effect. They say these days that 'full spectrum' light is not necessary, it's just the overall brightness that counts. I think a box will work better than the visor because it floods a whole area in front of you with bright light, especially if you read a newspaper underneath it. Home made boxes and tungsten lights are not recommended - to get enough light you would be burnt to a crisp by the IR of a tunsten light, not to mention blinded by the intense point source. Home made fluorescent lights are a potentially dangerous UV source.
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> Leonardo
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> > I'd love to hear the experiences anyone has had with light boxes. I have chronic depression, not necessarily SAD, but there is no question in my mind that my depression gets worse in the winter time. This is much on my mind since with the daylight savings time change, it now gets dark alot earlier, and snowed a chunk of the day. Do they work? How do you use them? Where do you get one? How much do they cost? Thanks ksvt
poster:ksvt
thread:47717
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001022/msgs/47975.html