Linkspam, advice

[oyceter]

• I haven't had time to read it yet, but the 3rd Asian Women's Carnival is up! The theme is intersections of race and gender.


• Submit to the 4th carnival here! The theme is "Storytelling, or reclaiming our selves through our words."


• Found via Racialicious, this post on Asian women, suicide, and depression hits a bit close to home for me.


• For Bay Area people, David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face is showing at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts this month.

And now for something completely different!

If you have a light box for SAD/mood disorders, what kind/brand do you have, how do you use it, and did you find it helpful?

Comments

[sparkymonster]

I use a lightbox. I have this the Sunlight Jr.

The way I do it is I set it up at my desk at work, by my monitor, and leave it on for 1-2 hrs in the morning (if I use it after about noon, I can't sleep that night). I do my regular computing and take mini breaks to either angle my face more towards the light, or to read some printed material while getting light.

My psychiatrist says you need a light that gives off 10,000 LUX. I like this one in particular since the table footprint is relatively small, and it's very portable. It fits in my backpack and in a carry on suitcase. You can go through airport security with it (though they will almost definitely take your suitcase aside for additional manual screening). I find it extremely helpful. If I dont' lightbox every day, I'm incredibly sluggish, I can't get out of bud, I can't concentrate and I generally feel like crap. When I use it regularly, I'm more able to do things.

[oyceter]

Thanks for the info! Do people at work complain about the light?

[sparkymonster]

Everyone asks me about it because it's really fricking bright. I just say "blah blah SAD. I need it for medical reasons blah blah" or "blah blah SAD. If I don't use it, I will be unable to work".

[rachelmanija]

Are you going to see the Hwang play? I don't know that one, but he's very good in general.

That article on Asian women and depression hit home to me too. Partly because some "model minority" issues overlap, and partly because I recently had an intense conversation on the subject with an Asian-American Cal Tech grad, who told me that three Asian-American Cal Tech students had committed suicide within the last year. Those were all men (the ones who committed suicide and the guy I was talking to) but I think some of the same pressures apply to men as well.

[oyceter]

Yes, I am hoping so!

I feel like people in Taiwan are more accepting of depression as a mental illness now, based on completely subjective experiences in talking with my mom and her friends, but OMG. I so sympathized with the "How can you be depressed when your grandparents had to flee the Communists and your parents lived without calling home for years because they didn't have money?"

[chomiji]

The links are going to be a mess for me.

My light box is:

http://www.sunbox.com/Products/ProductPopUp.asp?ProductID=248

I use mine for a minimum of 20 minutes, first thing in the morning. During the school year, I put it on the kitchen counter while I'm getting the semi-comatose teenager her breakfast and lunch. During the summer, I've had it set up next to my computer monitor, and I eat my cereal and read online with the light on.

The minimum wattage is indeed extrememly important.

My sister Amy's father-in-law only uses his during the darker months, from equinox to equinox.

[rilina]

I haven't used mine since I moved to CA, but in Boston, I had it set it up on my desk so I could get light while I ate breakfast and did my morning computer stuff. I never used it consistently enough to get a good sense of the effect, though.

[oyceter]

*nods* Yeah, I was super bad about using yours when I borrowed it, largely because of having to have half an hour in the morning before having to run to school...

My therapist said it worked if you turned it on while sleeping, although online reports say otherwise. I guess it wouldn't hurt to experiment though.

[sparkymonster]

That's why I brought my light to work. It is hard to wake up early and lightbox consistently. But I can manage to stumble to work and then lightbox.

[oyceter]

Heh, yes! Ergo my wondering if it bugged people at work.

The only thing is I am pretty sure using it in Korean class would be a no-go, and although I could probably sit in the student lounge and use it there three out of five days of the week (and it's usually empty enough at 9am so I hopefully won't have to explain to everyone), I have class right after until 11 on two days. Sorry, just typing out logistical ponderings, arrrgh.

[sparkymonster]

It doesn't seem to actually bother anyone. People just go "huh. Bright light."

HRM. You could lightbox later in the day too.

For me, 30 minutes isn't enough. I need 1-2 hrs. I suggest experimenting. Start with 30 minutes for a week or so. Then 45-60 minutes. Etc. etc.

[oyceter]

Thanks for the info! Does the minimum of 20 min. work for you? I know my therapist said 30 min., but I kind of feel adding time to my morning routine when I already have 8am classes and suck at waking up might lead to failure.

[chomiji]

20 minutes seems to work quite adequately.

Light dosage probably depends on a number of other factors in the patient's physiology. I'm very reactive to all kinds of things that affect brain chemistry. I usually use lower dosages that normal on psych meds, for example, and when I can keep exercising on any sort of regular schedule (which is a problem for me), I can cut back on them even farther.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I have the (very expensive) Sun Ray II (http://indoorsun.stores.yahoo.net/sunrayii1.html), and it works extremely well. I only use it during the darkest three months or so, or when I feel sluggish at other times. Normally I put it on the table and my laptop underneath it, and do net stuff while I eat breakfast, which results in about a 20-minute treatment. I've also used it in the afternoon, but it messes me up if I use it after about 7. (It makes a really great work light for jewelry-making!)

The SAD study I was in did find that morning use was more effective on mood during the day than afternoon use. It wasn't clear why: it may just have a limited duration of effect, and you sleep through it with afternoon use; people may be in crummier moods during the early part of the day anyway, though I think they tried to control for that; late light my disrupt sleep enough to have negative mood effects as well as positive ones; and probably other stuff I haven't thought of.

[oyceter]

Got it, thanks! I am hoping 20 min. works for me, since that seems to be as much free time as I get in the mornings...