Steamtherapy Tips to Combat SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

Are you sad because of SAD? Here are several SteamTherapy tips to help you combat seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD.

Up to 3% of the American population may suffer from winter depression, which doctors term seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Experts believe that SAD stems from a body clock that's out of sync combined with a lack of natural sunlight.

You might be suffering from SAD if you have to report to work before light and only leave when it’s dark. After all, we’re conditioned to continual exposure to sunlight from the dawn of man – having worked under the rays of the sun as hunters and gatherers. The artificial environment we live in now is counter-intuitive to our bodies’ needs.

So if you groan as fall turns into winter, and moan as winter drags on seemingly forever, you might be suffering from winter’s short days and long nights.

How to Combat Seasonal Affective Disorder

There are many ways to combat SAD. Among these, the experts suggest:

• Catch some morning rays. Even as little as 30 minutes may be effective. Try and go outside when the sun is shining – or at least bathe in the sunlight next to an open window.

• Differentiate between night and day. Keep your room as dark as possible when you sleep – and switch on lights early in the morning. This will help keep your body clock in sync. It also helps if you keep to a sleep schedule every day of the week. Sleeping in during the weekend can disrupt your body rhythms.

• Get some exercise. It may be hard to get moving when you feel lethargic and uninspired, but activity will elevate your mood.

• Watch out for “winter eating.” If you find yourself reaching for the chips or cake rather than healthy choices, you’re falling prey to a common SAD symptom. You may experience a boost in energy from these simple carbs, but the effect is temporary at best. And while packing on the pounds may help bears and other hibernating animals through a long winter’s sleep, it does us humans no good at all.

• Avoid bad news – and reach out to family and friends. If you’re prone to despair over disaster, try to turn off the TV and stop reading the news on the Internet. Instead, focus on happier connections.

In some cases, SAD can be severe enough to warrant a discussion with a doctor. A doctor might prescribe a low dose of the hormone melatonin, which can help reset the body clock to normal. Melatonin dosage and timing should always be calculated by a doctor.

Another common treatment for SAD is to sit in front of a light box for a prescribed period of time.  Often, this is a half-hour session in the morning, though studies have shown that some patients do better with bright light in the evening.

Banish SAD-ness with Blue ChromaTherapy

And here is where MrSteam’s ChromaSteam system may help.

Recent students indicate that the best light to combat SAD is blue light rather than the yellow light most of our household fixtures shed.  A CNN report speaks of preliminary studies that suggest spending more time under blue-enriched light –  rather than the white or yellow light most bulbs give off – might help us deal with those SAD blues.

Why? It seems clear to researchers that blue light improves alertness and mental performance, but they are still trying to understand why it is different from red, green, or white light. In a study where individuals were exposed to blue light, that color seemed to stimulate and strengthen connections between areas of the brain involved in processing emotion and language.

While this is not yet a definitive answer to SAD’s melancholy, researchers suspect that the brain’s response to blue light may help people adapt to emotional challenges more easily, regulating mood long term. 

So how can the ChromaSteam system help?

By integrating light with steam, ChromaTherapy environments become rich with color, mood and warmth.

After all, color and light have captured the imagination of some of the greatest thinkers in history, most notably, Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine. Hippocrates was known to have incorporated ChromaTherapy into his practice by painting treatment rooms in healing hues and using colored salves as remedies.

>> See Steam Bathing History with the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

>> See How the Power of Color Fits Into Chroma and SteamTherapy.

MrSteam’s ChromaSteam color selection can be set for a single color or to cycle from one to another.

If you think you might suffer from SAD, maybe consider a morning or evening steambath while using ChromaSteam. Try bathing yourself in blue light to see if it helps you combat the lethargic symptoms of SAD.

The other colors – red for vitality, yellow for awakening, green for harmony, indigo for its mystic powers, and the nirvana aspect of violet – can be added to the cycle before or after a session with the blue light and may improve your overall physical and mental state.

>> See How to Install the Chroma Light Cable and Light Up Your Steam Room.

Are you ready to combat the winter doldrums with these SteamTherapy tips? 

Take advantage of a steambath coupled with the rich hues of ChromaSteam to lift your spirits and make you feel more energetic and alive!