This Autumn I wrote about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and light therapy. Many people, myself included, find that waking up in the dark is difficult since the body doesn’t seem to have time to adjust to the start of the day. In the spring and summer it seems easier to get up and start the day energetically since the light steadily increases from early morning – this allows for a gradual wake up. This dawn awakening seems to be important in controlling our internal body clocks, or circadian rhythm. This internal ’body clock’ is associated with hormonal release and other physiological responses. It may well be that disruption in morning waking during the dark autumn/winter months plays a part in SAD for some sufferers.
For years I used a timer switch on my bedside lamp, it was set so that the light went on 15minutes before my alarm clock so that my body started to be ready to wake. The problem here was that the light was bright straight away and there was no ‘dawn effect’. There are now some fabulous dawn simulators available such as the Lumie Bodyclock, these sunrise alarm clocks usually consist of a unit with a light that gradually increases in intensity over a 30 minute period until it is at it’s brightest when an alarm usually sounds.
SAD is often associated with hypersomnia, excessive amounts of daytime feelings of sleepiness. People with hypersomnia often have difficulty waking up in the mornings and can feel disorientated for the first few hours in the morning. Other symptoms which are related to SAD include anxiety, irritation, reduced energy, restlessness, slow thinking, slow speech and memory difficulty.
The thinking behind the Lumie Bodyclock is that if we wake up with gradual, dawn light our circadian rhythm / natural body clock, is less disrupted. Increasing numbers of studies (e.g.1,2,3,4) have now been carried out with dawn simulators for SAD, the studies have proved very positive with some indication that the dawn simulation sunrise alarm clocks, are as good as light boxes at helping mood in SAD sufferers. One study (1) concluded that: Naturalistic dawn simulation was an active antidepressant that does not require the effort of post-awakening bright light therapy. The authors say that dawn simulation can be considered as an alternative to bright light therapy or medication.
Another study (2) took place in 50 medication-free patients with SAD that was associated with hypersomnia (excessive amounts of daytime feelings of sleepiness). The individuals received either 1 week of dawn simulation or a dim placebo signal. The participants assessed their level of drowsiness upon awakening using a scale called the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS),a psychiatrist then rated difficulty awakening after the treatment week. Dawn simulation lowered both the difficulty awakening score and the ’sleepiness scale’ score compared to the placebo dawn signal.
If you have been diagnosed with SAD or feel that you suffer from some of the symptoms of SAD, which you can read about in my previous blog post, you may want to consider purchasing a sunrise alarmclock such as the Lumie Bodyclock to see if it brings relief, especially if you suffer from difficulty waking and getting up in the mornings. This is a convenient form of light therapy which, as mentioned above, may be as effective as light box therapy.
(1)Terman M & Terman JS. 2006. Controlled trial of naturalistic dawn simulation and negative air ionization for seasonal affective disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 163:2126-2133
(2) Avery DH et al. 2001. Dawn simulation and bright light in the treatment of SAD: a controlled study. Biol Psychiatry. 50:205-216
(3)Avery DH et al. 1993. Dawn simulation treatment of winter depression: a controlled studyAm J Psychiatry. 150:113-117
(4)Avery DH et al. 2002. Is dawn simulation effective in ameliorating the difficulty awakening in seasonal affective disorder associated with hypersomnia? J Affect Disord. 69(1-3):231-6.
Written By Ani Kowal
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