Humans need light in order to live healthy lives. We feel good when exposed to light. In fact, our body produces vitamin D with the help of sun rays. For all these reasons, people of ancient civilizations considered sun and light to be deities of many cultures.
Nowadays, people use light therapy, or phototherapy, in order to treat people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder and many other health problems. Seasonal affective disorder is also known as winter moodiness, being a state of major depression which affects one during periods with scarce sunlight exposure. During these times, individuals may suffer from hopelessness, fatigue, sleeping disorders, weight gain or weight loss, anxiety, concentration issues etc. Light therapy can help them deal with their problems.
Light Therapy vs. Depression
This is quite a simplistic approach to treating depression where the patient is exposed to a certain light therapy box which emulates natural sources of light. Once this exposure takes place, the patient’s body engages into numerous chemical production processes, which make the negative depression symptoms disappear or decrease. One may purchase a light therapy box online and use it at home. However, it is best to seek medical attention before you take this step and use this device only with proper, professional guidance.
The Process
Light therapy requires you to sit in front of the device, looking into it, thereby allowing light to enter your eyes. Yet, you should never stare into the device light source directly, since it might cause ocular damage. Once your body has absorbed enough light from the box, you are bound to feel better. In order to fight depression completely, you are advised to repeat the process at the same time every morning, for at least 15 minutes. Therefore, for best results, you should have adequate light therapy prescribed by your doctor.
The Effect
Even though light therapy is almost completely harmless, some patients may experience headaches, nausea, eye irritation or strain, mania, dry mouth and sleeping issues as side-effects. If these occur, make sure you decrease the intensity of the therapy.
Speaking of side-effects, people with skin cancer, eye problems, skin disorders and systemic lupus erythematosus are most prone to them. Thus, it is best to seek medical opinion and adequate instructions beforehand.
Finally, light therapy is great for pregnant women since this way they avoid taking potentially risky antidepressants. All in all, light therapy is a very powerful antidepressant on its own. Thus, if you have problems with any kind of depression disorder, take this miraculous healing method into consideration.
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