Collect ‘round and let me tell you a story about the dark sky that makes mid-afternoon feel like midnight, and the light source that makes it at all bearable. Once a year, winter appears with a quick chill of the ears and sudden craving for a vat of hot chocolate. It brings all things beautiful: holiday lights, white blankets of snow in the park and thoughtful gifts. But it also invites in the cold and heaping amounts of darkness. I came of age in upstate New York, where sunlight is gone by half past four in the afternoon the entirety of December and January. That’s to say this isn’t a brand new phenomenon for me, however that hasn’t made it any much less painful. In actual fact, it has prompted a sense of dread that begins popping up come late September.
However after I moved to Scotland, 4:30PM turned practically 3PM and the solar didn’t absolutely rise till effectively after I’d woken up. Even in London the place I’m now based mostly, it’s simply darkish by 4PM on the shortest days. Like most individuals, the darkness leaves me exhausted whereas taking a critical toll on my psychological well being.
Now to the hero of this story: my SAD lamp. SAD stands for seasonal affective dysfunction, a depressive dysfunction triggered by the change of seasons (normally the darker days, although some folks expertise it in the summertime). You under no circumstances have to obtain a SAD analysis to make use of a SAD lamp, shiny mild remedy lamp or wake-up lamp — all names for a similar factor.
I purchased Lumie’s Vitamin L shiny mild remedy lamp just a few years in the past forward of my first Scottish winter and have used it yearly since. The Vitamin L lamp is a slim rectangle that gives 5,000 lux at a foot away or 2,500 lux at about an arm’s size. The latter is the really useful distance to be used and kind of how far it sits from me. It’s simply shy of eight inches broad with a size of 11 inches and a depth of simply over three inches. It may stand in portrait or panorama orientation, too, although I discover it doesn’t steadiness very effectively within the latter. The sunshine makes up your entire entrance panel and has a easy energy button on the again.
The lamp lives on the ground subsequent to my kitchen desk, the place I’ll prop it up practically each morning whereas having breakfast or beginning work. As a giant fan of sleeping in, I not often apply it to the weekends until I’m getting up early to run someplace and I sometimes neglect or get busy within the morning a minimum of one workday. However after I do have it on, I’ll preserve it shining at me from an angle for half-hour to an hour, relying on how a lot time I’ve.
This mild is way from an additional desk lamp so as to add a bit glow. It’s a really — I repeat for good measure — very shiny mild. And but, regardless of it virtually being imitation daylight, there’s no UV rays to fret about. It actually does wake me up simply from how shiny it’s and the day by day routine provides a pleasant construction to busy, chilly mornings.
I’ve by no means acquired a SAD analysis however I do have a panic dysfunction that causes nervousness and bouts of melancholy, the latter of which is extra distinguished throughout these chilly, darkish days. I don’t know the way a lot of it’s the lamp and the way a lot is a placebo, however it actually does assist preserve my destructive emotions at bay and makes the darkish days — a bit — extra bearable.
General, when you dread the darkness of the winter months as a lot as I do, I extremely advocate making an attempt this Lumie lamp or exploring one of many different choices available on the market. Simply the behavior of turning it on most days makes me really feel like I’m doing one thing to fight the dreariness. Plus, it actually is difficult to be drained when there’s a shiny mild shining close to you.
