Light therapy for winter blues
With winter comes shorter, darker days. This results in seasonal affective disorder for many. SAD is a type of depression that affects a person during the same season each year.
Photo by MCT Campus
According to WebMD.com, SAD is more common in people who live in areas where winter days are short and there are big changes in the amount of daylight between the seasons.
For most people, SAD symptoms start in September or October and last until April or May.
Symptoms include feeling sad, grumpy, moody or anxious, gaining weight, losing interest in your usual activities or sleeping more and feeling drowsy in the daytime.
Experts aren’t sure what causes SAD, but they think it might have to do with lack of sunlight.
Lack of sunlight can affect your sleep-wake cycle or other circadian rhythms, as well as cause problems with serotonin, which is a brain chemical that affects mood.
Those darker days and the lack of sun bring a lot of business in for tanning companies.
“I know it makes me happy if it’s really cloudy outside, but I definitely think there are other things that can help, too,” said junior biology major Elizabeth Eads.
Tanning beds can help the body produce Vitamin D, which can lead to a better mood. However, tanning beds are not recommended for SAD. The light sources in tanning beds are high in ultraviolet rays, which can harm your eyes and skin and lead to skin cancer. Vitamin D supplements can be taken in the dark, winter months and are recommended by doctors.
Junior athletic training major Amanda Hickle has seen her dad battle skin cancer.
“I think, in the long run, the bad outweighs the good,” Hickle said. “Depression could be treated in other ways, and I don’t think it’s worth the risk of getting a long-term disease such as skin cancer.”
Many doctors recommend light therapy for SAD.
There are two types of light therapy; bright light treatment and dawn simulation.
For bright light treatment, one sits in front of a light box for a half hour to an hour, usually in the morning. Light therapy goes in through the retinas of the eyes.
Dawn simulation is when a dim light comes on in the morning, while one is sleeping and slowly gets brighter, like a sunrise.
In addition, antidepressants and counseling also help SAD.
The University of Indianapolis Counseling Center on the second floor of Schwitzer Student Center is open to students who feel depressed.
Regular exercise, a healthy diet and getting the proper amount of sleep each night are recommended.
Although tanning beds might seem like the answer, the risks are serious.
According to a 2009 study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the risk of melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, increased by 75 percent when tanning started before the age of 35.
In addition to skin cancer, risks include premature aging and eye damage.
“The risks are definitely a turn-off for me,” Eads said. “I don’t want skin cancer or wrinkles.”
Although the risks are known, on an average day, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, more than one million people tan in tanning salons around the United States.
The AAD offers healthier alternatives to getting the tanned glow or battling SAD. More information is available on the AAD website, aad.org.
