Are SAD Lights beneficial

[gryffron]

Tell your wife everyone on LemonFool said they were great. Much more chance of it working if she thinks it will.

[johnhemming]

I am one for 3000iu d3.

[EssDeeAitch]

Tell your wife everyone on LemonFool said they were great. Much more chance of it working if she thinks it will.

Nailed it! That's just the ticket I think.

[john10001]

I have a normal light on a timer that I feel greatly helps in winter. It has a daylight bulb in it instead of the warm ones you get from supermarkets.

[Lootman]

If you can, I suggest that you and your wife do as I do, and around the end of January take off to equatorial regions. I go to the Far East and Australia but I guess you do not need to go that far. By then, I like the relief of heat and about 12 hours of sunshine.

My wife and I take off for a chunk of time every mid-winter. We find that much more valuable than taking a holiday in the summer, when the UK is at its best anyway.

We usually do either the Far East and Australia. Or Southern California where her family is. We are there now in fact.

The one thing I always notice when we arrive at LAX is the light. Even in the summer it is so much brighter than the UK. No SAD here.

The one thing I notice when we get back to the UK is how green Britain is. I guess you can't have them both.

The problem with the UK winter is not that it is cold because it really isn't. At least in the south of England it doesn't get that cold, nor snow that much. Rather it is the sheer length of the winter that gets me. It seems to start in October and not really end until May.

The coldest I ever was was a Hogmaney in Aberdeenshire. It was so cold my eyes hurt. As some wag there told me: "We have two seasons here: Winter and June".

[Dod101]

The problem with the UK winter is not that it is cold because it really isn't. At least in the south of England it doesn't get that cold, nor snow that much. Rather it is the sheer length of the winter that gets me. It seems to start in October and not really end until May.

The coldest I ever was was a Hogmaney in Aberdeenshire. It was so cold my eyes hurt. As some wag there told me: "We have two seasons here: Winter and June".

I agree with all that you are saying. Aberdeenshire certainly gets cold even in midsummer but it is not that which bothers me. What gets me is the lack of light between early December and the end of January. I get off a plane say in Singapore at the end of January and it is wonderful to walk out to pick up a taxi in about 32C and daylight, bright daylight. Of course it gets dark early by midsummer standards of the UK, but it is wonderful to get the light.

I guess southern California (or even north) must be similar certainly compared to our short days of winter. Dark at the moment until about 9.30am where I live and then by 4 pm I am pulling the curtains closed again No wonder we take to drink!.

Dod

[AsleepInYorkshire]

The problem with the UK winter is not that it is cold because it really isn't. At least in the south of England it doesn't get that cold, nor snow that much. Rather it is the sheer length of the winter that gets me. It seems to start in October and not really end until May.

The coldest I ever was was a Hogmaney in Aberdeenshire. It was so cold my eyes hurt. As some wag there told me: "We have two seasons here: Winter and June".

I agree with all that you are saying. Aberdeenshire certainly gets cold even in midsummer but it is not that which bothers me. What gets me is the lack of light between early December and the end of January. I get off a plane say in Singapore at the end of January and it is wonderful to walk out to pick up a taxi in about 32C and daylight, bright daylight. Of course it gets dark early by midsummer standards of the UK, but it is wonderful to get the light.

I guess southern California (or even north) must be similar certainly compared to our short days of winter. Dark at the moment until about 9.30am where I live and then by 4 pm I am pulling the curtains closed again No wonder we take to drink!.

Dod

Vitamin D3 4,000iu's

AiYn'U

Merry Christmas

[Howard]

Follow up on my original post.

Our son arrived from New Zealand for the month last Tuesday and my wife has cheered up significantly (he is a lovely boy). It makes me wonder whether what she needed was more exposure to son rather than sun.

Anyway, she may find the SAD light that is currently residing under the Christmas tree beneficial when she has the double jeopardy of the son leaving and the sun remaining hidden.

How did your wife get on with the SAD light?

I ask, because I have been out in the garden several times since Christmas and have been able to sit in bright sunshine in a sheltered spot. Being a fairly keen gardener I'm struck how, providing one can be sheltered from any wind, even in January it's possible to bask in the winter sun. The last couple of days, admittedly in the South of England, one could have sat out for an hour or two in the middle of the day without getting cold. If I wasn't on dry January, I'd have been tempted to sip a glass of wine outside. For me, with a robin and a few blue tits for company, it would be much better than sitting in front of a lamp inside.

Memories may be faulty, but I seem to remember that even living in Whitley Bay years ago, there were occasions where the winter sun was very pleasant.

Perhaps gardening tasks help, spreading my home-made compost over the garden has certainly kept me warm this month .

regards

Howard

[EssDeeAitch]

Follow up on my original post.

Our son arrived from New Zealand for the month last Tuesday and my wife has cheered up significantly (he is a lovely boy). It makes me wonder whether what she needed was more exposure to son rather than sun.

Anyway, she may find the SAD light that is currently residing under the Christmas tree beneficial when she has the double jeopardy of the son leaving and the sun remaining hidden.

How did your wife get on with the SAD light?

I ask, because I have been out in the garden several times since Christmas and have been able to sit in bright sunshine in a sheltered spot. Being a fairly keen gardener I'm struck how, providing one can be sheltered from any wind, even in January it's possible to bask in the winter sun. The last couple of days, admittedly in the South of England, one could have sat out for an hour or two in the middle of the day without getting cold. If I wasn't on dry January, I'd have been tempted to sip a glass of wine outside. For me, with a robin and a few blue tits for company, it would be much better than sitting in front of a lamp inside.

Memories may be faulty, but I seem to remember that even living in Whitley Bay years ago, there were occasions where the winter sun was very pleasant.

Perhaps gardening tasks help, spreading my home-made compost over the garden has certainly kept me warm this month .

regards

Howard

Thanks for asking. She uses the light in the mornings and evenings, probably three to four hours a day in total. Her mood does seem to have improved so obviously, clearly and without doubt, the SAD light has worked and at £30 was a bargain.

Seriously, we will never know if it is the light or just a change in mind set. But never mind, she uses it and is less bothered by the darkness.

[UncleEbenezer]

Thanks for asking. She uses the light in the mornings and evenings, probably three to four hours a day in total. Her mood does seem to have improved so obviously, clearly and without doubt, the SAD light has worked and at £30 was a bargain.

Seriously, we will never know if it is the light or just a change in mind set. But never mind, she uses it and is less bothered by the darkness.

Daylight hours are rapidly improving. Good for her, good for me, good for most of us (I'm tempted to say all, but I'm sure there are exceptions).

The real test will be around the anniversary of your original post, when nature is back at its darkest and man's humbuggery mocks at light. And the lead up to that from the autumn's free jetlag, when it's dark and getting darker (November is a lot worse than January 'cos of the direction of travel).