…all you need is lux…
Recently I wrote about senior depression, and it occurred to me that this time of year one form of depression in particular is much in evidence. Many people—including seniors—suffer from seasonal affect disorder, commonly known by its instructive acronym SAD.
This is an extreme form of the winter blues, and it brings ordinary life to a halt for many people during the short, dark days of winter. One of the most commonly recommended treatments for SAD is the therapeutic light box. A light box typically generates up to 10,000 lux of flourescent light (about 20 times as bright as an ordinary lightbulb) and costs $200 to $500.
That may sound like a lot of money, but for SAD sufferers the light box is a good investment, particularly for seniors whose mobility is limited. If you are involved in the care of an elder who seems low and out of sorts this time of year, you might want to learn more about SAD.
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Tags: aging parents, caregiver, elders, senior depression
There are One Response to “Senior Depression, Part II: The Winter Blues”
#1 Ryan - 15 May, 3:41 PM
If a lightbox is too expensive, the full-spectrum compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs available at better hardware stores provide a nice happy antidote to SAD if you put them in the right fixtures. They’re fairly cheap and very economical, as a 60-watt replacement CFL bulb only consumes 13 watts of electricity to produce the same amount of light.