Posted by yznhymer on October 19, 2004, at 16:01:32
In reply to Re: News: Light Therapy as Effective as Prozac for SAD, posted by ravenstorm on October 19, 2004, at 12:11:11
> I have severe seasonal affective disorder. Light boxes do not help it. If I am able to get out of the midwest to the sun somewhere, I feel amazingly better within a very short period of time.
That's interesting. For years I wasn't sure whether I had atypical depression or SAD. Living in the northeast, I'd struggle through the winters and perk up May through September. But, coincidentally, the Fall was also when many of the most depressing aspects of my life would intensify, so it was hard to sort things out.
In any case, I found no real relief with a light box or visor (meds haven't been that great a solution either) but the amount of natural sunlight I get continues to make a huge difference in how I feel on any given day. On cloudy days I am totally devoid of energy, never really wake up, symptoms of depression deepen and I feel like !$#~!. I'm driven to self-medicate with carbohydrates and want to do nothing but hybernate.
Sunny days, however, are like a mental B-12 shot. In recent years my depression stretches through every month on the calendar, so I don't think SAD is my DX. Nevertheless, exposure to sunlight remains critical to whatever snatches of normalcy I can grab onto.
Mark
poster:yznhymer
thread:404672
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041018/msgs/404815.html