#your retinas wont be getting 10k lux

[smute]

im seeing a lot of posts about seasonal depression recommending vitamin d supplements and thats great and all but...

1. it's normal to feel a little gloomy in the winter. unless it affects your daily life, you dont have seasonal depression, you have the winter blues. if it does affect your daily life, please see a doctor. seasonal depression/SAD/MDD with seasonal pattern can be treated very effectively with antidepressants or light therapy (see below)

2. while there is a link between depression (particularly postpartum) and vitamin d deficiency, the effectiveness of vitamin d supplements as a treatment has not been conclusively proven.

3. even if you do suffer from seasonal depression, there's a good chance that your vitamin d levels are fine. if you regularly spend a decent amount of time outdoors during the summer months (mar-oct) when there is enough natural ultraviolet light available in latitudes like europe and north america for your body to synthesize its own vitamin d, you probably have enough stored in your fat cells to make it through the darker half of the year. if you live south of the 35th parallel you're making vitamin d year round.

supplements can't hurt (technically, excess levels of vitamin d can be toxic, but even with supplements you're unlikely to poison yourself) but, once again, my point is: even if you have a vitamin d deficiency, it's not necessarily connected to your seasonal depression, and even if there is a connection, it's not necessarily causal.

something super straightforward that is actually proven to work is light therapy, especially when its done early in the morning. it tackles a root cause (lack of daylight) and can help balance your circadian rhythm and your melatonin/serotonin production. it doesn't require a prescription (it's a lamp), you don't have to see a doctor in order to try it (it's a lamp), it's non-invasive (it's a lamp) and accessible (it's a lamp), and it has very few side effects (mostly stuff like eye strain or headaches since, again, it's a lamp). this is my second winter with a light therapy lamp and i have noticed a significant improvement not just in my overall mood but especially in my alertness and energy levels. so yeah. just putting that out there