SAD: When I did a very brief lit search, the research showed much larger effects of vitamin D supplementation than light exposure therapy. Of course, they weren’t using enough dakka on the light, so both should be used. But two of my close friends with severe SAD were dramatically improved when I got them to supplement D regularly. It’s handy that you don’t need to take it regularly, just in large doses occasionally (probably don’t do more than 50k IU at a time for safety). Sorry I didn’t keep the references where I can find them!
Again, doing both is probably a good idea, but most people seem to be vit. D deficient, as you’d expect from a light-exposure-synthesized vitamin, with all of this modern unnatural clothes-wearing and indoors-dwelling.
Back to light: as the standard male night owl (particularly on a WFH flexible schedule): Am I understanding you correctly that if I wanted to go to bed earlier (not sure I do but I probably should), I’d wake up earlier and blast my eyeballs with light right away, then avoid bright light 3-4 hours before bed? Anything else?
Great post, thank you!
SAD: When I did a very brief lit search, the research showed much larger effects of vitamin D supplementation than light exposure therapy. Of course, they weren’t using enough dakka on the light, so both should be used. But two of my close friends with severe SAD were dramatically improved when I got them to supplement D regularly. It’s handy that you don’t need to take it regularly, just in large doses occasionally (probably don’t do more than 50k IU at a time for safety). Sorry I didn’t keep the references where I can find them!
Again, doing both is probably a good idea, but most people seem to be vit. D deficient, as you’d expect from a light-exposure-synthesized vitamin, with all of this modern unnatural clothes-wearing and indoors-dwelling.
Back to light: as the standard male night owl (particularly on a WFH flexible schedule): Am I understanding you correctly that if I wanted to go to bed earlier (not sure I do but I probably should), I’d wake up earlier and blast my eyeballs with light right away, then avoid bright light 3-4 hours before bed? Anything else?