In institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, SAD light therapy is considered a standard form of treatment for seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Also referred to as a more serious form of "winter depression", affected individuals suffer depression, lethargy, fatigue, and many other symptoms when shorter days and longer nights begin to raise their ugly heads in the fall and winter.
SAD has been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual, in the DSM-IV as an official subtype of major depressive episode. Approximately 75% of those involved are women, with the most common age of onset being the thirties. A psychiatrist by the name of Norman Rosenthal in 1984 had published a paper SAD light therapy, with research still going on today in regard to it. From that moment in time in the early 1980s, SAD light therapy--also been called bright light therapy or phototherapy--and over the years has been associated with the disorder SAD.
SAD light therapy requires about 30 minutes a day of daily light treatments--with the light treatments working best in the mornings with some using it in the evenings. The amount of light and when it is to be used depends a lot on the individual and the type of light box. A 10,000-lux light therapy box requires only 30 minutes a day of light treatment as a SAD light therapy, with the initial treatments requiring full spectrum lighting. More recent studies show that regular fluorescent bulbs can work as well, with UV or ultraviolet lighting needing to be filtered out as it damages the eyes and skin. But people still prefer the full spectrum minus the UV, as it is the closest to natural lighting available for SAD light therapy.
There are three key elements combined in SAD light therapy: intensity, duration, and timing. As many people know, light therapy is best used early in the morning as compared to using it in the evenings, as it has been known to disrupt sleep or cause insomnia. How long of a duration may range from 30 minutes to two hours, with initial doses as low as 15 minutes and working up. The intensity is a little more complicated, as the lux of the light box varies. The term "lux" refers to the measurement of light received at a specific distance from a particular light source, with the average light therapy box running between 2,500-lux and the typical 10,000-lux. To put this into more clear terminology, the average living room in the evening is about 400-lux, and the bright sunny day runs about 100,000-lux.
The monochromatic red light therapy is a powerful force, as it uses the red light to stimulate acupoints in the treatment of several diseases, followed by a gentle massage of the afflicted area. This can be many problem areas, such as shoulder pain, endocrine problems, diabetes, dysmenorrhea, depression, impotence, frigidity, the acupoints of the ear, and gastrointestinal problems.
A controlled study in 1990 at the San Diego State University School of Nursing, found that the effects of shining flashing red lights using special goggles focusing into the eyes of serious migraine sufferers could alter their migraine pain levels. The Red Light Therapy treatment began the instant the migraine would start, varying with different light intensities and the frequency of the flashing lights. Ninety-three percent of the clients said they had some relief, while 72% said the severe migraines were stopped completely within the hour.
Everything that is alive in the world is made of electromagnetic energy and vibrates at different frequencies. These frequencies correspond to sound, light, and color, with the colors consisting of frequency wavelengths. Red Light Therapy uses the primary red color of the ROYBGIV spectrum--colors of the chakra system of energy wheels, the human aura, the rainbow spectrum, and the electromagnetic energy field. The color that each person is drawn to are those which are needed to balance their lives on a subconscious level.
Using red in Red Light Therapy is the need to balance the body's energy, vitality, and power in an imbalance system. To decrease cells for cancer, sores that are open or even wounds such as burn wounds, use this therapy to reduce pain. The afflicted area is lacking any circulation, which means it will be a cold area--so the color red will warm it and bring circulation into it. It is an extremely powerful healing agent for diseases of the blood and circulation. But Red Light Therapy cannot be used by those with high blood pressure or even panic disorder, or anxiety, as the color red is the root chakra. This is referred to as the first ray, or the "flight or fight" area at the base of the spine, and too much red exposure will cause extreme agitation and aggression.
Remember that colors that are worn will effect moods of everyone involved--those wearing the clothing and those in the surrounding environment. There are many subtle bodies, or levels of consciousness, around each person, which are similar to the aura and chakra energies. The Eastern esoteric traditions emphasize only one while the Western esoteric traditions refers to a series of them, with each one being attracted to a certain color for a certain reason to balance the entire system:
• Dense physical body
• Etheric body
• Astral or the emotional body
• The concrete mind, or mental body
• The abstract mind, or the causal body
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