Light boxes? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

seaturtle · 11-13-2008, 05:51 PM

Hello, everyone,

Has anyone ever used a light box for this dark time of year? My pdoc mentioned it to me today, and I never tried one. Any successes with one?

Best to everyone, hope we can all hang in there with all this greyness and darkness,

Seaturtle

dreams in neon · 11-13-2008, 11:38 PM

Hi Seaturtle,

I've never used a light box before, but my tdoc suggested I use one when I saw him last week.

Do you (or anyone else) know where light boxes can be purchased?

In the meantime, I'm keeping all of my lights on in the apartment when it's cloudy so it helps elevate my mood some.

Feel better soon!

dreams in neon
Bipolar I - Rapid Cycling

seaturtle · 11-14-2008, 06:25 PM

Greetings, neon,

I asked around. There are companies that sell them, but they are expensive. Someone I spoke with today said there are special full-spectrum light bulbs you can put into just any lamp. Here, they are apparently available at the health food store. I haven't looked elsewhere for them.
As far as I know, it has to be this full-spectrum light, not ordinary bulbs, though given the darkness of the past week, having all my lights on would have been a mood-raiser. Unfortunately, my electric bill mitigates against that!
Best to you, will let you know if I find another source.

Seaturtle

dreams in neon · 11-14-2008, 08:19 PM

Thanks for your reply, Seaturtle!

I'm going to talk to my tdoc and pdoc to find out if they have any resources as to where full spectrum light bulbs can be found.

For now though, I'll do an Internet search to see if I can come up with anything.

Thanks for your best wishes!

dreams in neon
Bipolar I - Rapid Cycling

katlin09 · 11-14-2008, 08:45 PM

I've never heard of them, of course when I'm depressed like I am now....I tend to go around shutting all the blinds and just making the apartment dark. My son is at his dad's for the 2nd weekend in a row, and this is the hardest part to get used to. Being alone, and then rainy cold weather, plus the dampness is causing the knee pain to get worse, so it's just all a recipe for getting down in the dumps very quickly.