Light therapy successful against depression

A light therapy is successful against winter depression

Winter depression, the "winter blues", is often due to vitamin D deficiency or excessive levels of melatonim caused by lack of sunlight. In contrast, a light therapy should help.

Dark season

If we feel impotent from the beginning of November on, the "autumn blues" attacks us, then it is less due to the "autumn atmosphere" in general, but the associated lack of sunlight.

Especially in winter, you should as much as possible to the outside to fill up with light. In winter depression, therapy with light lamps also helps. (Image: schankz / fotolia.com)

The affective winter disorder

On a cloudless summer day up to 100,000 lux are exposed, on a gloomy day in mid-December only 3500 lux. A winter depression is a seasonal affective disorder. In German: We have mental problems and physical complaints as in a depression, and their trigger is the season or lack of light in this season.

When is not it a winter depression?

In order to diagnose depressive moods as winter depression in the winter (only rarely is it a clinical depression), other triggers have to be ruled out first: For example, if the sufferer suffers from a separation crisis, another cause would be possible - even with similar symptoms in summer.

How can a winter depression be recognized??

Typical for a winter depression is that the symptoms begin without any other possible triggers in early November to December and, again, without any other triggers at the end of March / beginning of April.

Just a feeling?

We also speak popularly of the "winter blues" as we negligently say "I am depressed" when we are frustrated. In winter depression, however, there are mild, moderate and severe forms. The serious cases are associated with a high level of suffering.

Hormones and daylight

The day-night rhythm shifts with the length of daylight. The sooner darkness sets in, the more the levels of the hormones serotonin and melatonin change.

What do the hormones do??

Serotonin and melatonin work together. Serotonin is our "feel-good hormone" and melatonin organizes the sleep-wake cycle. It is distributed in the evening, that is, when it gets dark. If the serotonin is already sinking in the afternoon and the melatonin level is rising, we feel less "happy" and at the same time tired.

Melatonin in winter depression

In the case of people suffering from winter depression, the following can be said: While in healthy people melatonin levels do not rise until winter, when they go to bed in the evening, it is much higher throughout the day in winter depressives than in those who are unaffected. In the evening he rises only slightly. The result: those affected are tired during the day and can hardly sleep at night.

What does the light therapy do??

The light therapy now replaces the missing light and thus reduces the melatonin level during the day. Artificial light migrates into the midbrain in the early dark morning and from there the production of melatonin is compensated.

How are you?

Affected persons should use lamps with a light intensity of 10,000 lux and sit at a maximum distance of 80 cm in the morning for one hour in front of the lamp. They should turn regularly directly to the light. That does not stop them from reading during this lesson or working on the laptop.

Danger to the eyes?

The medical light lamps emit white light of the entire spectrum and are harmless to the eyes.

Quick recovery

The light therapy works against winter depression already after a few days. Those affected should buy their own lamp, because the therapy only works if the patients use it continuously from November to March. After a few days, the depression will begin again.

Additional medicines?

About half of all winter depressants who did light therapy do not need additional medication.

Light therapy as a prevention?

Light therapy has no side effect, which is why it can be used well before the first symptoms occur. Conversely, the more severe the depression has become, the more difficult it can heal itself.

A chronic disease?

Winter depression is probably not a disease that continues throughout life. Most patients are between 30 and 50 years old, very few young and only a few older than 65 years.

Get outside

But endangered as well as healthy people should not just do a light therapy without using the natural light. In winter it is cold, wet and cloudy. Nevertheless, you should not sit on the warm sofa all day, but go out in the light as much as possible. Although 3,500 lux on a December day is far less than in summer, it is still far more than about 500 lux in an office job at the window. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)