Study: light box therapy for MIDDAY light
 

HI,

This very small study mentions that light box therapy caused mixed states for some patients when the light was used in the morning. When the light was used in the mid day, more patients responded successfully.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0103101121.htm
Several years ago I used a light box for about 20 minutes as soon as I woke up for a week or two and got very anxious / agitated. I discontinued it.


If I tried the light box again, I would try it in the midday. The timing of the light box might be as important (or more important) than the light box itself.

Very interesting.
Here's my question.
What do they mean by "midday."

What does midday mean for a person who sleeps in the day time? My morning and midday would be different from a normal sleep person's.

-->> Maybe the point is to wait about 5 or 6 hours after waking up. I could try that and see.

M.

There are sites on the web about light use, that can be manipulated to change your circadian rhythms by changing the time of day to move bedtime hours to a more convenient time.

Also using melatonin on a schedule, one can push back or bring up a sleep time. They use this for pilots and others who cross time zones.

I think light therapy however, is difficult for bipolar patients.
Very tricky. I know one year I was doing seedlings with 4 grow lights, and monitoring them, watering them is intensive for a while until they get sturdy. I inadvertently exposed myself to too much light and became very hyper, and couldn't sleep. I did a series of bird's nest drawings in that state! So it wasn't wasted, but it was pretty zoomy! (This spring I am planning a similar large batch of seedlings for myself, the new garden and my son's house, and his new neighbor. So I might just go into that state again! Who knows? ) I will turn off the lights when attending to the babies this time to protect myself.

This drawing (pastel) won a prize even!

fiat lux... lotta lux!
 

Yes indeed, use of light exposure and/or melatonin singly or in combination are supposed to be of particular help in resetting sleep schedules... when the sleep schedule is "not right" because of circadian rhythm disturbances... as both will act to modify the circadian rhythm.

While light exposure is also useful to assist with depression, IMHO i don't see that it would affect someone's bedtime if the reason that is "off" compared to the rest of the world is not primarily due to an upset circadian rhythm to start with, but rooted in fear of sleeping in the dark, or of the darkness... etc... it might change the release times of melatonin, sure, but strongfear/anxiety can keep one awake even if one is actually tired.

Still light therapy can be useful for mood improvement, without necessarily tinkering with one's personal sleep habits - nocturnal or diurnal as they be. To this end, I would agree with what you suggest, Mari, that we could define "midday" in a relative way - meaning, several hours after one gets up. This would actually make sense, thinking about it, since the brightest light exposure would naturally occur around then, when the sun is high in the sky. Intuitively it seems to more "gentle" to me also than dowsing oneself with bright light upon waking... I could see where some depressed people would find that really jarring and upsetting, and rather than respond positively, land in that nomansland called a mixed state.

My thoughts.

~ waves ~

MrsD
 

That is exquisite MrsD. :) I'm not at all surprised it won a prize!

~ waves ~

Mari, strange coincidence, but I had posted a similar thread on the Lupus Foundation of America support group - depression or bipolar is a pretty common occurrence in lupus patients.
I switch on yellow electric bulbs on my bedside lamps if I nap in the afternoon. In the winter if there is strong sunlight I don't need to, but if I take a nap when it is a little dark outside I always have those lights on.
In the summer when the curtains need to be drawn against the heat, the lights are again on.
I figured out how important yellow light was to lift my mood when I had a bad episode of depression in '96. It was one of the many things I tried an d one of the few that I had any success with. The episode lasted months and for much of that time I never left the bed. Those lights were on 24/7.
I have never tried a light box, because simple bulbs helped and still do. With lupus I can not use fluorescent lights or CFLs anyway. :)
Ten years ago when we built our own house we made sure there was a lot of glass. I have a french window in my room that opens out to the balcony. There are a lot of large deciduous trees outside, so the visual experience from my room helps to keep me on an even keel.

MrsD, as Waves has already said, that painting really is exquisite. :)

HI,

I'm reading about the light box again.
Apparently the light box is supposed to be above the eye (like the sun would be above.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...t=AbstractPlus

http://www.psycheducation.org/depres...erapy.htm#eyes

Well that makes it hard to hook up a light box.

It's been in the 80s here. 'Cloudy lately but usually it is sunny.
Maybe I could just . . . like . . . . um go outside in the day time instead of sleeping during the day time.

M.

I have a light visor (which I haven't needed yet this fall/winter), but I used it for 2 yrs for seasonal depression.

It is UV free, and only uses a green/blue light. It is much handier than a light box, and easier to control.

http://www.feelbrightlight.com/studies.html

I really like this way of getting light. I only needed 1/2 hour a day first thing in the morning. Without it I was sleeping way too much in winter. I have a thread on it at PN somewhere if you search me there.

My bed side lamp achieves just that. The light is above my eyes. Try it Mari. It's a simple yellow electric bulb. Get a 100 watts.

Hi,
I like nighttime and sleeping in the day more than I like the sun. And yet I like the sun.
I'm very confused.

M.