How is SAD treated?
Winter depression has responded well to a number of different interventions. The primary therapy is bright light therapy in the morning after you wake up. Another light therapy option includes dawn simulation therapy, in which you force an artificial sunrise in your bedroom while it’s still dark outside. Another option is negative air ionization therapy, where you create summer-like conditions in the circulating air environment, either while you sleep or during the day. Negative air ions are very high in the environment in highly humidified environments, but indoors, especially in the winter with the heater on, there’s a paucity of negative air ions, and that acts badly on mood. Another option is standard antidepressant medication, which you really need to use only during the difficult months of the year. What we realize now is that the whole gamut of depression, whether seasonal or not, is modulated by the level of serotonin activity in the brain, and that’s why the selective serotoni
