Joined: 4 Feb 2007 Age: 42 Gender: Male Posts: 181 Location: Egypt
29 Oct 2010, 5:15 pm
Winter is usually the most depressive time of the year. Maybe because we get out less than usual so we are faced with our thoughts more than usual.
_________________ From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
Joined: 14 Dec 2009 Age: 32 Gender: Male Posts: 2,577 Location: Scotland
03 Nov 2010, 6:30 am
Yes, I use one. For when I had a job starting at 7.30 - 7.45 in Scotland, with horrible horrible strip lighting in an office, it was vital to getting through the winter. Without it, I felt awful all the time.
Joined: 21 Dec 2008 Age: 52 Gender: Female Posts: 54
03 Nov 2010, 7:46 pm
I have an alarm clock which gradually gets lighter for 30 minutes before the alarm sounds. It's a much more gentle way to wake up. Before, old alarm clocks always made me feel like I'd been slapped in the face.
Joined: 30 May 2010 Age: 47 Gender: Male Posts: 2,872 Location: England
10 Nov 2010, 9:04 am
I have a SAD lamp. It is 10,000 lux and helps me during the winter. I am so interested in the whole light therapy thing and electromagnetic energy has become a special interest of mine. I was also obsessed with SAD for a while. In the UK during December and January we do not get any ultrviolet from the sun at all. And apparently this affects our sleep/wake cycle and also our moods. I certainly go into hibernation mode at this time. The bright light helps me to wake up and face the day. I always feel more alert after using it for half an hour.
But I think part of my AS makes me sensitive to light. In the summer I can get very agitated and excited and do not sleep very much. In the winter the opposite and I sleep all the time.
Joined: 2 Nov 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 466 Location: England
05 Dec 2010, 5:22 pm
I tried a Lumie Bodyclock for a few years. Rarely it would wake me up with the light and it was nice. Other times I would be facing the other way so it failed completely! It was also poorly made and feel apart in multiple ways after a while. If you get one don't get a Lumie (sorry if you've already bought one).
I'm trying Shake Awake now! Just waiting for it to arrive in the next couple of days.
I've caved in, and ordered a SAD light from Amazon. I'm poor, so I can't afford one of the more expensive "clocks" that comes on gradually in the morning, but I have one I can switch on when the alarm rings, and have it on for about twenty minutes or an hour before I get up. I've been pretty non functional off and on for the last week, and I'm desperate for something that will help.
The one I got was very cheap, at £36, but most of them are over a hundred. You can also, apparently, get UV light bulbs... that might be a good idea. They're about £17. Seems to me that for something that is supposed to be so helpful for so many people they're being priced out of most folks reach.
The one I got was very cheap, at £36, but most of them are over a hundred. You can also, apparently, get UV light bulbs... that might be a good idea. They're about £17. Seems to me that for something that is supposed to be so helpful for so many people they're being priced out of most folks reach.
... and then turn a light on/off at specific times, and I used to use something similar (a timer from an old coffee pot) to turn on a light 30 minutes before I had to get up in the morning. But now that I no longer work, I just let sunlight wake me up whenever it does.
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Joined: 2 Nov 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 466 Location: England
13 Dec 2010, 11:51 am
Just in case anyone was interested in the shake awake then I'd say don't bother as it's a nightmare, then again I know this thread was more concerned with SAD.