Gather around and let me tell you a story about the dark sky that makes mid-afternoon seem like midnight and the light source that makes it bearable. Once a year, winter arrives with a quick chill in the ears and a sudden craving for a tub of hot chocolate. Bring all the beautiful things: Christmas lights, white blankets of snow in the park, and thoughtful gifts. But it also invites you to enter the cold and darkness. I grew up in upstate New York, where the sunlight disappears at four-thirty in the afternoon throughout December and January. I mean, this isn't a new phenomenon for me, but that hasn't made it any less painful. In fact, it has caused a feeling of fear that begins to appear at the end of September.
But when I moved to Scotland, 4:30pm became almost 3pm and the sun didn't fully rise until long after I woke up. Even in London, where I live now, it gets dark easily at four in the afternoon on the shortest days. Like most people, the darkness leaves me exhausted and takes a serious toll on my mental health.
Now to the hero of this story: my SAD lamp. SAD means seasonal affective disordera depressive disorder triggered by the change of seasons (usually the darkest days, although some people experience it in summer). You by no means need to be diagnosed with SAD to use a SAD lamp, a bright light therapy lamp, or a wake-up lamp – all names for the same thing.
I bought Lumie Vitamin L Bright Light Therapy Lamp It was a few years ago before my first Scottish winter and I have used it every year since. The Vitamin L lamp is a thin rectangle that provides 5000 lux at a foot distance or 2500 lux at about an arm's length. The latter is the recommended distance for use and more or less how far it is from me. It is just eight inches wide, 11 inches long, and just over three inches deep. It can also be placed in portrait or landscape orientation, although I think it doesn't balance very well in the latter. The light takes up the entire front panel and has a simple power button on the back.
The lamp lives on the floor next to my kitchen table, where I prop it up almost every morning while I eat breakfast or start work. As a big fan of sleeping in, I rarely use it on the weekends unless I'm getting up early to run somewhere and I usually forget or am busy in the morning on at least a work day. But when I have it on, I'll keep it glowing at an 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 brightness. It is a very – I repeat just in case – very bright light. And yet, even though it practically imitates sunlight, there is no need to worry about UV rays. It really wakes me up because of how bright it is and the daily routine adds a nice structure to busy, cold mornings.
I was never diagnosed with SAD, but I do have a panic disorder that causes anxiety and bouts of depression, the latter of which is more prominent during these cold, dark days. I don't know how much is the lamp and how much is a placebo, but it really helps keep my negative feelings at bay and makes the dark days, a little, more bearable.
Overall, if you fear the darkness of the winter months as much as I do, I recommend you try this Lumie lamp or explore one of the other options on the market. Just having it on most days makes me feel like I'm doing something to combat the monotony. Plus, it's really hard to be tired when there's a bright light near you.
