Improve your mood with light therapy at health services
Neil BlakeEveryone wants a little feeling of summer during the dark days of winter.
When you can't have the real thing, fake it.
Light therapy can be used as a solution to the mid-winter blues and it's now offered at Central Michigan University.
A chair that is similar to a tanning bed, only it filters out harmful rays, is available to students, said Lori Wangberg, health educator for University Health Services.
Individuals can sit in a room with the lights off, the drapes closed and enjoy a 30-minute therapy session.
The white light from the light box sits about 12 inches from the patients and they can take that time to read, eat, do homework or just relax, Wangberg said.
"The people who come out of it say they feel really calm," she said.
During late fall and early winter, seasonal affective disorder, or the winter blues, affects many students. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, anxiety and a drop in energy level.
"People's moods are set by the seasons," said Sarah Yonder, a physician at the University Health Services.
"(The therapy) gives you an artificial sunlight source to enhance moods and give more energy," Yonder said. "It helps patients get more light during winter and fall months (when the sun isn't out as much)."
Western Michigan University has offered light therapy since the fall of 2006, and it has been found to be beneficial to students, said Lynn Abbate, office coordinator for health promotion and education at WMU.
Some students come in during their lunch breaks or to study.
"Kids have just come and talk on their cell phone the whole time," Abbate said. "It's a good down time for them to relax and (recuperate)."
The only thing that students can't do is sleep. Light enters bodies mainly through the eyes, and the eyes are the receptors to the brain, Wangberg said.
Chemicals, like serotonin and melatonin, are positively affected by sunlight, Yonder said. And doctors believe seasonal affective disorder can be caused by an imbalance in certain brain chemicals.
Each session is 30 minutes, and someone can have up to three sessions a week, Wangberg said. It is $2 a session or $5 for 3 sessions.
After next month, there won't be much of a demand for the therapy because the weather is getting nicer, Yonder said. But students can still take advantage of it for a few weeks.
For an appointment, visit the Health Education office in Foust 104 or call 989-774-6527.
university@cm-life.com
