Since depression affects so very many people in the US each year, there are many different types of research going on to find better treatments of depression and to find the causes of depression. There are many natural medicine treatments being researched for depression treatment. You can choose from herbal medicines, treatments like fish oil to replace fatty acids and photo therapy for seasonal depressions. Each therapy has different types of treatment involved and works best for particular types of depression. When it comes to seasonal depression, one of the best known treatments for this disorder is blue light depression therapy.
The Lights, The Lights
Depression researchers discovered that some people have a hard time adjusting to changes in the amount of daylight during winter months. These people are exceptionally susceptible to seasonal depression and needed some way to replace the lost light to keep their internal clock functioning properly. Light therapy usually has the seasonal depression sufferer sit in close proximity to a light emitting source or take out time each morning to be in the sunlight for about an hour. This treatment is effective in keeping away symptoms of seasonal depression, but researchers are always looking for a better treatment. What they found is that there is a particular wavelength of light that is most important to our ability to recognize day and night. This light is what maintains our natural internal balance and is a blue light wavelength. Blue light depression therapy focuses on this wavelength and significantly improves depression symptoms.
The Eyes Have It
There are a number of microscopic parts of the eye that determine what and how well you see. The rods and cones in your retina (the back of the eye) are responsible for receiving light wavelengths and processing the things that we see. The rods are useful in peripheral motion vision and night vision. The cones are for color vision and work by processing different colors through different types of cones. In 2001 a light receptor was located in the retina that is responsible for detecting the time of day. This receptor only filters blue light and is the focus of a lot of research for depression and biological clock related issues.
Blue Light Depression Therapy
Light depression therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been largely confined to sunlight or light machines. This type of therapy is nearly as effective as drug treatments for SAD, for people who have problems taking drugs it is even more effective. The problem is that the therapy is expensive and many insurance companies do not cover the cost of the treatment materials. The box itself is unwieldy and not portable. The fortunate thing with blue light depression therapy is that the machine is considerably smaller (since it needs to focus on just one wavelength rather than the full spectrum “white light”) and half as expensive. You can use the device anywhere and take it along with you when you travel. The tiny little box surpasses its predecessor in terms of effectiveness.
Potential Hazard
The issue of macular degeneration has been raised with blue light depression therapy. This is a degeneration of key areas of the retina which is what allows us to actually see things. There is research going on into the amount of light that it takes to cause problems in the retina and how much exposure it takes to create vision problems. It is thought that blue light depression therapy is of little risk to the retina because the short period of time and the low level of light should not be sufficient to cause a problem in the retina. Studies are being proposed to compare the possibility of retinal damage in full spectrum boxes as well as blue light depression therapy boxes. The people most at risk for macular degeneration include:
People over 55 years old
People who have genetic risk (a family member with macular degeneration)
