Seasonal effective disorder is a depressive disorder caused by a lack of daylight particularly through the winter months that effects 3-6% of people. Up to another 40% of people experience low mood in the winter months.
I am one of the 3-6% that suffer with SAD. For years I have suffered with depression but have noticed that this low and depressive feeling is amplified during the dark winter months. I have been diagnosed by a doctor that I have SAD and have been advised to invest in some light therapy.
When searching the internet for appropriate light therapy it was extremely difficult to find any reviews from people actually suffering from SAD and finding a site that compared SAD lamps was impossible!!
I decided to do my research using Amazon as they advertise a HUGE range of SAD lamps and allow for users to leave feedback open to the public to view.
The first thing that I looked for with a SAD lamp was the price. The cheapest lamp on Amazon was around £20 and the most expensive was almost £300!! I chose to set my price range at £40-£80 as I was concerned that the lack of research into these products wasn't enough for me to willingly pay £300 on an item which potentially was 'psychological' and wouldn't benefit myself.
The second thing I looked at was the rating of the lamps. I searched for lamps of 4 stars and over as I again didn't want to feel like I was wasting my money. I then looked at the lamps with the most high ratings as the more opinions I could get from users would help me make my decision.
Finally after my self research, I decided on this SAD Light Therapy Daylight Box. This lamp set me back just £49.99 which I thought was reasonable considering most SAD lamps are £100+.
The lamp was delivered within a couple of days despite the 5-7 working day delivery estimate.
This particular lamp is fairly large, much larger than I was expecting (I had read the measurements but its hard to picture in your head). I would describe the size of this lamp as approximately 2 sheets of A4 paper placed next to each other.
I have been using this lamp almost every day for the past month and I'm glad to report that I have noticed a change in my mood!!
I have been putting the lamp on in the mornings when I am doing my makeup before work/uni and almost instantly feel slightly more awake (this took a few days to have an effect like this). I can safely say that this half an hour of light from the lamp has made me feel more energetic, nothing extreme but I certainly haven't been feeling so sluggish in the mornings. This has made me feel more alert not only for the hour after using the lamp, but I have been feeling slightly more alert throughout the day!! It has also improved my mood; this may be because I'm more awake and less sleepy throughout the day or it might just be that I am happier because I'm getting more daylight, even if it isn't natural!!
I purchased this lamp being very sceptical. I have always thought that these sorts of therapy are psychological and will only work if you believe they work. However as sceptical as I was the lamp appears to have done what it says it will. I for one have been proven wrong!!
Overall I am very impressed with this particular SAD lamp and do not begrudge spending a penny of the £49.99 on this model. The lamp has so far impressed me with its effects and how quickly they have had an effect despite me disbelieving in its abilities.
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