Bright Light Therapy

Wellbeing: ‘a healthy balance of body, mind and happiness which allows you to achieve the potential of which you are capable’.

Lack of Light

A general decline in wellbeing can be put down to a variety of reasons including stress, genetic vulnerability and also lack of light. Modern living has dramatically altered nature’s cues. We do not rise with the sun and relax when the sun goes down. In a modern day, we get up when the alarm clock tells us to, often working beyond dawn–dusk indoors, in offices where there is very little sunlight. After-work time is often spent mostly indoors, at social gatherings or in front of the television or computer, sometimes late into the night. Usually we go to bed late, far after we are tired; dependent on an alarm clock to get us up in the morning and so the cycle of circadian rhythm imbalance continues.

How our bodies adapt or struggle to adapt when we are deprived of light has been well documented by medical research and the very real effects of light deprivation recognised. When our bodies are out of balance nothing seems to feel right. The hormones, chemicals and neurotransmitters that determine how we feel, sleep and eat are out of sync. If our brain/body is out of sync, so are we!

S.A.D. Seasonal Affective Disorder

Closely associated with circadian rhythm disorder. Symptoms include:

Depression, feelings of gloom and despondency for no apparent reason.
Lethargy, lack of energy.
Anxiety, inability to cope.
Social problems, irritability, not wanting to see people.
Sleep problems, finding it hard to stay awake during the day, and having disturbed nights.
Loss of libido, not interested in sex or physical contact.
Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, increased appetite leading to weight gain.

Note: Many SAD Suffers note brief (1–2 week) periods of SAD-like symptoms in the summer. Researchers report that Clinical Depression is closely tied to circadian rhythm disorders because almost all depression sufferers have sleep problems and feel worse at a particular time of day as well as in the winter.

Other Problems Affected by Lack of Light

Post natal depression.
Eating disorders.
Jet lag.
Shift work: often accompanied by metabolic symptoms, including hypertension and diabetes.
General fatigue, absent-mindedness, poor productivity.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).
Bipolar Disorder.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Sleep Disorders: Insomnia, Late Night or Early Morning.
Non-seasonal depression and other psychiatric disturbances.

Cause and Effect

Light affects a small area (suprachiasmaticnuclei) deep in the pineal gland in the brain. This area responds to light, when there is less light it sends a message to your body to produce more melatonin (the hormone that causes hibernation in animals) and it makes you sleepy. However, when there is plenty of light it sends the signal to produce serotonin the ‘happy hormone’ which makes you ‘feel good’.

Light and Circadian Rhythms

The body’s two adrenal glands sit at the top of each kidney, where they secrete hormones that regulate stress response and metabolism.

Light exposure to the retina is first relayed to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, an area of the brain well known to coordinate biological clock signals. Researchers have found that light sparks a cascade of gene activity in the adrenal glands through its effects on the SCN.

The SCN is the seat of the circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that regulates the roughly 24-hour cycle of biological processes. This rhythm is regulated by neural and hormonal processes, synchronisation is maintained through entrainment mainly by light.

Because circadian rhythm controls the sleep/wake cycle, circadian rhythm disorder often results in insomnia, interrupted sleep patterns, free-cycling sleep disturbances and irregular sleep disorders.

Light Therapy

Effects of light have been established on melatonin; the remaining powerful and broad effects of light on body metabolism and hormones is yet to be clarified. Our body clocks really do react to light and as a result light can be used to improve how we feel and how we function.

Light therapy improves not only psychiatric status, but also disordered hormones and metabolisms.

Disruptions in biological clocks may be both the cause and consequence of disturbed moods.

Historically, treatment for depression involved the use of drugs. Clinical research has shown Bright Light Therapy alleviates many of the symptoms for problems and S.A.D. as mentioned above.

Light Therapy is used in hospitals, clinics and other treatment facilities.

Melatonin Secretion/Alcohol Consumption

Studies approved by the Lille (France) Committee for research on biological rhythms on humans indicate alcohol intake alters melatonin secretion both in healthy volunteers and in alcohol-dependent individuals is a variety of different situations (while drinking, during or after withdrawal, and with neurological complications).

The disturbances of circadian rhythms may explain in part some mental disorders secondary to alcohol consumption.

A delay in the nocturnal rise of melatonin may contribute to disordered sleep in alcohol-dependent individuals.

Affinity Lodge uses Light Therapy in the treatment of insomnia in recovery, not only for sleep disturbances and other problems associated with stress-related disorders, but for general wellbeing.

Melatonin for sleep.
Melatonin and ageing.
Antioxidant actions.
Hormonal effects.
Immune system effects.

Part of our Morning Routine

Light intensity is measured in ‘lux’ the Latin word for light. On a summer’s day at our latitude we may have up to 16 hours of daylight at 100,000 lux. In winter an 8 hour dull day will give less than 5,000 lux and indoor lighting rarely exceeds 500 lux.

Light Therapy should be taken as early as possible when you get up, and not be used within 4 hours of bedtime, as you need the melatonin to build up towards bedtime to give you a good night’s sleep.

Integral to our Relaxation Room, set beside our main Presentation Room, Light Therapy is a part of our Preliminaries (to achieve coherence in mind/body and ‘grounding’ to prepare for maximum focused learning). ‘Naturally’ we take the recommended 10,000 lux as we prepare for another day designed for personal development, stress reduction, education for mind, body and heart, improved health and wellbeing.

Interestingly, the light transducing ability of the pineal gland has led some to call the pineal the ‘third eye’; referring in part to the ajna(brow) Chakra, the gate that leads within to inner realms of higher consciousness. Enlightenment, the state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering, in an enjoyable Journey of the Self, requiring a beginning (with no end, as we are only human!); Affinity Lodge is the perfect place to start your New Journey, providing an experience that can restore a distressed person to health.