[The Lizard of Oz]

(09-01-2014 06:00 PM)Cyr Wrote:  

Great post, I'm definitely looking into buying one. How effective is it in combatting depression for people who already spend a lot of time in the sun, eat very healthily, juice daily and sleep well (i.e has an otherwise excellent lifestyle?).

I think it would still be effective, particularly in the fall and winter months (since you necessarily get less sunlight during these months, and you don't get a sufficient intensity in the morning when it matters most).

I would add that someone who is depressed to any appreciable degree almost never really sleeps well. It is almost a contradiction in terms, since virtually any state that rises to a level of appreciable depression involves some dysregulation of sleep. Of course you can sleep well and still be psychologically unhappy or frustrated, but that is really not the same thing as "depressed".

People who are depressed in a real sense (even mildly) tend to have bad sleep structure. Meaning, they might sleep for a normal number of hours, but the sleep will not be structured properly, and will often leave them groggy and downcast, rather than restored and refreshed, when they wake up. Bright light therapy would help improve the sleep structure, which is intimately related to the depressive state.