SadLights

Light therapy consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps contained within a light box. The light is administered for a set amount of time usually between 30 minutes to 2 hours a day people are more receptive to light therapy early in the morning.

Light therapy either uses a lightbox with a fluorescent light source ie the Rondo, Arabica and Litepod which emits up to 10,000 lux of light or a lower intensity of specific wavelengths of light from the blue (470 nm) to the green (525 nm) areas of the visible spectrum from an LED lightsource ie the Lumie Zip, Philips goLITE BLU and the Sad Solutions BLUElight.

For treatment, the patient's eyes should be roughly level with the lightbox while ensuring the light strikes the retina. This does not require looking directly into the light as long as the light is within the users field of vision it will be helping.

While full sunlight is the most natural and best treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), light boxes have proven to be extremely effective for the treatment of the condition, light therapy is still seen as the main form of treatment for SAD.

It has been noticed that individuals who suffer from SAD have a higher tolerance of bright light sources than non sufferers this should be remembered if a lightbox is going to be used with non sufferers present.