The directions for light therapy treatment are simple enough: Sit near the light and bask in the glow.
But, despite Oregon’s frequent rain and gloom, the University Health Center’s light therapy boxes go “underutilized,” said physician Rick Friedrich.
The National Mental Health Association estimates 25 percent of adults experience a mild form of seasonal affective disorder, and up to 5 percent experience a more severe form. SAD is most often treated with exposure to bright, medical quality light, called light therapy.
Light therapy boxes are available for students to use at the health center for $20 per week. Friedrich said students can use the boxes throughout the winter months or can buy their own after trying therapy for several weeks.
Health Center Medical Director Ben Douglas said students who receive light therapy treatment come in twice a week for about an hour at a time to sit near the light therapy box.
Peer health educator and University senior Kate Crosby said students can meet with a physician at the health center to determine whether light therapy could help with their symptoms.
“The symptoms are the same as those for depression, but they only affect you during the winter months,” Crosby said.
Students with SAD may experience increased fatigue, lack of concentration, depression, irritability, mood swings, overeating and decreased sex drive, Crosby said.
Douglas said differences between normal winter lethargy and the effects of SAD can be subtle.
“Symptoms can vary greatly from one person to another,” he said. “As with most psychological conditions, like depression, anxiety and seasonal affective disorder, the line is drawn at, ‘How badly are your symptoms interfering with your life?’”
Light therapy can significantly improve patients’ symptoms, Douglas said, and can reverse them completely in some cases.
Naturopathic physician Tina Kaczor of the Clinic of Natural Medicine in Eugene said using light therapy more regularly than twice a week might make treatment more effective.
“It seems that having patients put full spectrum bulbs in their homes – their bathrooms, night lights and all their bedrooms – and using the light boxes seems to help people feel better,” she said.
Kaczor’s patients use their light boxes daily, she said, usually in the morning while they are eating breakfast, reading the newspaper and sitting for 20 minutes at a time. Patient compliance is higher when therapy doesn’t disturb their daily routine, she said.
Kaczor said people generally feel the effects of light therapy quickly, but if they don’t, there are a number of other physiological aspects that might be involved, including nutrient deficiencies and hormonal balance.
If light therapy is ineffective, the health center will consider other causes of a student’s symptoms.
“If it’s not working, you don’t have to continue with it,” Crosby said. “You might be prescribed antidepressant medication or referred to the counseling center, which is completely free.”
The NMHA also recommends spending time outdoors every day to alleviate symptoms of mild SAD.
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Light therapy boxes brighten up winters, reduce SAD effects
Daily Emerald
February 4, 2009
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