Light therapy

Many phy­si­cal and men­tal pro­ces­ses are con­trol­led by an inter­nal clock. In the win­ter months, the lack of light cau­ses a hig­her pro­duc­tion of the sleep hor­mo­ne mela­to­nin and we sleep more, but often have less ener­gy during the day, as the pro­duc­tion of the hor­mo­ne mela­to­nin is down-regu­la­ted by bright day­light fal­ling on our eyes. It has been pro­ven that a lack of light can also lead to depres­si­on (win­ter depres­si­on, SAD).

Howe­ver, the bright­ness indoors is often lower than out­doors and in suns­hi­ne, even in sum­mer. When used cor­rect­ly, sun­light and the­ra­py light bring the inter­nal clock back into sync and thus ensu­re that the neu­ro­trans­mit­ter sero­to­nin and other mes­sen­ger sub­s­tances are once again pre­sent in hig­her con­cen­tra­ti­ons and can have a regu­la­ting effect in the brain.

The brain mes­sen­ger sub­s­tance sero­to­nin, along with others, ensu­res the trans­mis­si­on of infor­ma­ti­on from brain cell to brain cell and is known as the “feel-good hor­mo­ne”. Sero­to­nin defi­ci­en­cy is the cau­se of many depres­si­ons. In addi­ti­on, dis­or­ders of other neu­ro­trans­mit­ter sys­tems (nor­ad­re­na­line, dopa­mi­ne, glut­ama­te and others) can also play a role.

When the trans­mis­si­on of infor­ma­ti­on works well again, you can think bet­ter, feel bet­ter, sleep bet­ter, enjoy life more inten­si­ve­ly again, feel hap­pier and more balan­ced again. Inhi­bi­ti­on of thin­king, inhi­bi­ti­on of emo­ti­ons, con­cen­tra­ti­on, sleep and beha­vi­oral dis­or­ders such as anxie­ty, for exam­p­le, decrease signi­fi­cant­ly or dis­ap­pear com­ple­te­ly. Light the­ra­py is now also suc­cessful­ly used for sleep dis­or­ders, jet lag (time zone chan­ge), age-rela­ted depres­si­on and dis­or­ders of the inter­nal clock cau­sed by shift work. Even healt­hy peo­p­le can demons­tra­b­ly impro­ve their over­all well-being and per­for­mance with light.

For the best effect, it is advi­sa­ble to use it dai­ly for at least 2 or bet­ter 3 weeks. It is also bet­ter to use it in the mor­ning than in the evening so that the body can bet­ter adjust to the dai­ly rhythm. Each ses­si­on lasts 30 minu­tes. You sit rela­xed about half a meter in front of the lamp at 10,000 lux and read. You should also look direct­ly into the lamp every few minu­tes to enhan­ce the effect. The harmful UV light is fil­te­red out. In addi­ti­on to natu­ral bright day­light, blue light is also used suc­cessful­ly and effec­tively in light the­ra­py.