Next Sunday 25th October we gain an hour’s sleep as the clocks go back by an hour. While we initially benefit from lighter mornings, we soon find it harder to wake up as the days become shorter and the mornings darker. The dark winter evenings further impact on our internal body clocks to the point where about a quarter of us experience the winter blues and 7% * within that group suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which can be disabling to the point where you struggle to function normally.
London-based IT consultant Jenny Scott Thompson falls into that 7% but it took six years of crippling winter depression before her GP finally diagnosed her condition and prescribed light therapy and winter sun holidays:
“When I first got my light box, it made a huge difference to my energy levels and mood – suddenly I could be productive all winter long. It was only after that change that I realised how much of a change it was, and how bad it had been - that not everyone is used to spending half the year hating yourself and wanting to die.”
Jenny still has to cope with a strong hibernation instinct in the winter, comfort eating and oversleeping being two key symptoms, but she’s happy to report she no longer feels as tired at 3pm in winter as at 2am in summer.
“The Lumie light box made such a dramatic difference in my life. I now use wake-up light Lumie Bodyclock Starter for the mornings and have a compact light box called Lumie Brightspark on my desk, both at home and at work. I also take one with me when travelling. Work have been very supportive about me using a light box in the office and when travelling for my job.”
Circadian clock expert Dr Victoria Revell at Surrey University explains the two ways in which light therapy can help you to cope with dark winter days: “A brightly lit environment has been shown to stimulate your brain resulting in an increase in mood and alertness. Also, a lot of people in winter, because they’re not getting that early morning light cue, drift later in time making it harder for them to get up and get going and that obviously has a knock on effect. You can use early morning light or a dawn simulator to shift your body clock back and keep it synchronized so you find it easier to wake and get up in the mornings.”
Lumie lights are available from Lumie.com on a 30-day free trial basis and from leading retailers including Amazon, John Lewis and Boots. Please refer to www.lumie.com for further information.
Jenny volunteers for the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (SADA), the UK’s only non-commercial support organisation for SAD .
*Data based on an ICM Online Omnibus Survey conducted for Lumie in 2007/8 in which 2,000 people in the UK were polled.
Lumie
Since 1991 Lumie has been researching and designing bright lights to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other conditions. Our first Bodyclock dawn simulator – an alarm that wakes you up with increasing levels of light – was the world’s first wake-up light and brought light therapy into the mainstream. We also designed and developed Lumie Clear, a unique hand held device that uses combined blue and red light therapy to treat acne.
Over the years Lumie has worked closely with the scientific community. All of our products – the broadest range in Europe – are based on published research and designed by us from our base in Cambridge. Lumie is in the EuRhythDia consortium investigating circadian rhythms and type 2 diabetes, and is working with Liverpool John Moores University sports science department. We continue to research new applications for light therapy.
Lumie products are medical devices, certified to the Medical Devices Directive (93/42EEC) and supplied to the NHS on an occasional basis. Distance and brightness levels (lux) are independently verified and Lumie is registered with the government's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
The benefits of light therapy reach far beyond SAD. Our lights help you to sleep well and get up in the morning, beat the afternoon slump, conquer jetlag and look after your skin. They also optimise sports performance and we are proud to provide lights to some of Great Britain’s elite athletes as well as acting as official suppliers to British Swimming.
Two of our wake-up lights, Active and Elite, provide white noise as an option. If you are trying to sleep in a noisy environment or during the day, white noise helps to muffle other sounds, like traffic or people talking.
In the UK our products are available through www.lumie.com as well as major retailers like John Lewis, Boots, amazon, Selfridges and wiggle.co.uk and we have an expanding network of distributors across Europe and in North America. For consumers buying through www.lumie.com we provide a home trial on all products and a dedicated customer careline.
Full case study for Jenny Scott Thompson & hi res photos provided on request
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Contact:
Ruth Jackson
PR Manager, Lumie
Tel: 01954 780500
Mob: 07914 812261
www.lumie.com
FB: Lumie.light.therapy
Twitter: @lumie_lights
Pinterest: Lumie Lights
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