Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression that typically happens in the fall or winter due to lack of sunshine. Reduced sunlight can also cause your serotonin levels to drop and melatonin levels to become unbalanced, which can play a role in your sleep patterns and mood.
If you have SAD, you may experience some of the following symptoms:
- Lack of energy
- Trouble concentrating
- Sadness
- Anxiety
- Weight gain
- Irritability
Of the 16 million affected, 75% of those are women.
Red Light Therapy is one of the most exciting tools we can add to our health arsenal.
Who can benefit from Red Light Therapy?
Seasonal Affected Disorder
Red Light Therapy (LLLT) is shown to boost your alertness, mood, energy, and concentration. It’s important to use Red Light regularly to achieve and maintain results.
Depression
By helping your circadian rhythm and balancing serotonin levels, research shows that light therapy may improve depression and mental clarity.
Sleep Disorders
Research is showing that using light therapy can positively affect melatonin and serotonin levels in your brain. This allows for a more restful and deep sleep which will allow for a more consistent sleep schedule.
People taking Anti-Depressant Medication
If you’re taking an antidepressant, think of using light therapy in partnership with your medications. By balancing out serotonin levels on top of your current medication, it will amplify the affects.
Studies in animals and humans have shown that depression and anxiety coincide with certain mitochondrial alterations—including changes in cellular respiration and the generation of ATP, the energy currency of all cells.
So, it might not come as a surprise that low-level laser therapy, targeting mitochondria, can have an impact on these conditions!
The first clinical trial of red light therapy for depression and anxiety found that a series of treatments with an 810 nm laser led to improvements in their depression and anxiety scores at the two-week follow-up.
