Gather around and let me tell you about the dark sky that makes it feel like midnight, and the source of light that makes it bearable. Once a year, winter appears with a quick chill of the ears and a sudden craving for a vat of hot chocolate. It brings all the good things: holiday lights, white blankets of snow in the park and thoughtful gifts. But it also invites cold and pitch blackness. I came of age in upstate New York, where sunlight disappeared at four thirty in the afternoon throughout December and January. That is to say that this was not a new phenomenon for me, but that did not make it any less painful. In fact, it caused a sense of dread that began to emerge in late September.
But when I moved to Scotland, 4:30PM turned into almost 3PM and the sun wasn't fully up until I woke up. Even in London where I'm based now, it gets dark easily by 4PM on the shortest day. Like most people, the darkness leaves me exhausted while taking a serious toll on my mental health.
Now to the hero of this story: my SAD lamp. The meaning of SAD is seasonal affective disordera depressive disorder triggered by the change of seasons (usually the darker days, although some people experience it in the summer). You do not have to receive a SAD diagnosis to use a Sad lampbright light therapy lamp or wake-up lamp — all names for the same thing.
I bought it Lumie's Vitamin L bright light therapy lamp a few years ago before my first Scottish winter and have used it every year since. The Vitamin L lamp is a slim rectangle that provides 5,000 lux a foot away or 2,500 lux at about an arm's length. The latter is the recommended distance for use and is more or less how far it is from me. It's just shy of eight inches wide by 11 inches long and just over three inches deep. It can also stand in portrait or landscape orientation, though I don't think it's very balanced in the latter. The light takes up the entire front panel and there is a simple power button on the back.
The lamp lives on the floor next to my kitchen table, where I set it up most mornings while eating breakfast or starting work. As a big fan of sleeping in, I rarely use it on weekends unless I wake up early to run somewhere and I usually forget or get busy in the morning even on a work day. But once I put it on, I'll keep it shining on me from one angle for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time I have.
This light is far from an extra table lamp to add a little glow. It is a very — I repeat for good measure — very bright light. However, despite being an imitation of sunlight, there are no UV rays to worry about. It really wakes me up from how bright it is and the daily routine adds nice structure to the busy, cold mornings.
I've never received a SAD diagnosis but I do have panic disorder which causes anxiety and bouts of depression, the latter of which is more pronounced on these cold, dark days. I don't know how much of this is the lamp and how much is the placebo, but it really helps curb my negative feelings and makes the dark days — somewhat — more bearable.
Overall, if you dread the darkness of the winter months as much as I do, I highly recommend giving this Lumie lamp a try or exploring one of the other options on the market. Just the habit of turning it on most days feels like I'm doing something to combat the dreariness. Plus, it's really hard to get tired when there's a bright light shining near you.
