Dark all day!

[tamaranth]

Has anyone used a lightbox to deal with SAD?
Are they any good?
There seem to be a lot of this model on eBay, going for about £60: worth it?

Comments

[lostcarpark.livejournal.com]

My Dad tried one for a few months some years ago, and he seemed to think it helped. The advice back then was that the cheap ones weren't worth bothering with. Cheap ones at the time were considered to be any under about £200. I don't know if this advice still applies. It's also worth bearing in mind that the people giving the advice had a vested interest in selling the expensive ones.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling this is an older model which used to retail for around £150-£200 but is now considered too big / low-lux / whatever. Certainly can't afford a new one but it seems worth a try!

[lostcarpark.livejournal.com]

Yes, hadn't seen the "retails for 198 pounds". Could be a good buy.

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

AIUI you need to get a therapeutic dose - enough photons - and for a long enough time (I think 2/3 hours a day) to affect the melatonin cycle. "indoor lighting is usually less than 500 lux, outdoor light on a cloudy day ranges from 1,000 lux to 5,000 lux, and midday summer sunlight can reach 50,000 lux or higher. The usual dose of light therapy used in previous studies was 2,500 lux for at least one to two hours per day, but further research showed similar benefit with 30 minutes of 10,000 lux exposure. Since shorter periods of exposure are more convenient, the 10,000 lux fluorescent light box has become the clinical standard"

the ELTA HL100 can't be 9 lux, it must be 9,000 lux? Byt the look of it if you don't find it helps there's a strong second-hand market ;-)

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

thanks for this! will peruse ebay further ... any recs for second-hand?

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

I've not used one but I did some reading a while back (omnivore!) and it just seemed to be anything that gives enough light without you having to have it 2" away. It's the lux at a comfortable distance. This place (http://www.sadbox.info/sadframeset1.htm) rents them out so I'd guess anything on their list is worth a try (you could rent one for a month for £19 and see if it helps - you're supposed to notice a difference in a week.

plants like them ;-)

[lostcarpark.livejournal.com]

I presume the "9.000 lux" was just copied from a website using the European convention of a fullo stop to seperate thousands.

[nolley.livejournal.com]

Why not get daylight bulbs & install them in your flat. It'll probably be cheaper.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I don't think daylight bulbs do the same thing -- they just emulate the spectrum of natural light, not the brightness or anything ...