SAD? Lighten up

Beat the winter blues without medications

December 2, 2011
(Aug. 4, 2006) -- As the sun retreats for the winter, people whose moods plummet because of seasonal affective disorder may reach for meds. A new study suggests that light therapy is the better option.


Canadian researchers gave 96 people either 30 minutes of daily light therapy plus a placebo, or sham light therapy and Prozac. After 8 weeks, both treatments had eased depression equally well. But the light box improved mood more the first week it was used; Prozac took 2 weeks to catch up. The drug, unlike light, carries side effects such as sleep trouble, agitation, and diarrhea.


Light therapy is easy: For 30 minutes a day, sit in front of a device that emits a 10,000-lux glow (the study subjects did it in the morning). Light boxes start at about $175.


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Tags: depression