Goodbye low mood - three tips to combat the winter blues
Gloomy weather, depressed mood - the winter blues are here. Many people are familiar with a low mood in the fall: they feel listless, depressed and find it difficult to get out of bed.
At this time of year, many people go to work before dawn and come home in the dark. "This is a life in biological darkness, because the usual electric room light does not have the same effects on the human body as daylight," says Dr. Jürgen Waldorf from the industry initiative licht.de. Outside in the open air, there are 100,000 lux on a fine day and 3000 or 4000 lux in foggy weather. Indoors, however, the illuminance is usually 500 lux at most - in the dark season, light is in short supply.
Daylight is the best medicine
If you want to brighten your mood, go outside. Exercise in daylight is also good for you. Even a half-hour walk stimulates the biorhythm and the internal clock beats in time. Waldorf: "In addition to cones and rods, there are also light-sensitive cells in the eye. They register brightness and control hormone production via the pineal gland. If the day-night rhythm is balanced, the quality of sleep improves and, as a result, well-being and vitality."
Blue and bright in the morning, reddish and dimmed in the evening
You can also do something at home to keep your body in sync, writes the industry initiative licht.de. Anyone using a lighting control system or smart light can call up lighting scenes to suit the time of day: for example, sunrise, work light or lighting for a calming atmosphere. Light alarm clocks would also bring the dawn into the bedroom - with gently increasing brightness and a color gradient from warm to cool.
Dimmable light sources with different light colors could also provide the right light at the right time: In the morning, wide-area lighting with high blue components and illuminance levels activates the kitchen, bathroom and home office. Towards evening in the living room and bedroom, dimmed warm white light contributes to relaxation, according to light.com.
Therapy devices with daylight spectrum
According to licht.de, compact therapy devices with a daylight spectrum for the home or workplace are also sometimes helpful. They mimic the intensity and color temperature of daylight and emit short-wave light in the blue range of the visible light spectrum. "Light therapy makes sense in the morning to clearly tell your internal clock that the day has begun. In the evening, on the other hand, it would only make it more difficult to fall asleep," says Waldorf.
In the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in surgeries and clinics, large devices are used that emit their light at a large angle so that as many light-sensitive receptors in the eye as possible are reached. Their illuminance is up to 10,000 lux - depending on the distance to the device. According to the information provided, they work with a color temperature of around 6500 Kelvin. This means that their light color is similar to daylight at noon. The industry organization writes that light therapy can achieve good results.
