Light therapy is still considered the gold standard for SAD sufferers, although it doesn’t work for everyone.
Patients in the UK are prescribed a SAD lamp, or light boxes, an artificial light source which stimulates the retina inside our eye, triggering the brain to suppress the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and boosting levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin. Patients are advised to sit near the light box for at least half an hour each day during the winter months. Research has shown that between 50 and 80 percent of patients prescribed light boxes experience partial relief from their SAD symptoms.
Rarer is the use of light-therapy glasses, made famous this weekend by Mick Jagger. They deliver “blue enriched” light directly to the eyes at a lower intensity than light boxes. They also have the added benefit of being portable, meaning you don’t need to sit in front of a box for half an hour but can stroll around the house (or balcony in Sir Mick’s case) as you please. In the UK, a pair of light-therapy glasses costs about £300.
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Although light therapy is the most common treatment for SAD (and relatively low-cost), patients are increasingly turning to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) too. Last year, researchers at the University of Vermont tracked 177 patients, all of whom had been diagnosed with SAD, over two winters. Half were treated with light therapy, and half were given CBT. Those given CBT were actually more likely to see their symptoms improve, and less likely to experience relapses in subsequent winters, than those given light therapy.
Separate research carried out in northern Norway found that patients could help banish winter blues by reframing their outlook to see darker seasons as an opportunity, rather than a burden to be endured – something that CBT might help patients to achieve. “People in Tromsø really didn’t see winter as limiting,” Kari Leibowitz, a health psychologist, told The Daily Telegraph earlier this year. “They saw it as a positive time both for outdoor recreation and indoors. It’s a season to make things cosy – it’s not just drinking hot chocolate, it’s also the psychological feeling of safety and contentment, maybe in front of a fire with friends.”
Exercise
Exercise helps your body beat a huge number of ailments and SAD is no different. The gold standard is outdoor exercise; research suggests that cycling and jogging can be as effective as antidepressants in treating mild to moderate depression.
But even if you can’t manage strenuous exercise, little bits of movement still help. Scientists say that even just a 15-minute walk at lunchtime will boost the release of dopamine and norepinephrine in your brain – helpful hormones that make us feel better and help regulate our circadian rhythms. Housework is also helpful.
