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By Mayo Clinic staffYou don't need any special preparation to have light therapy. Before starting light therapy, however, check with your doctor and mental health provider to make sure it's a good option for you.
Your doctor or mental health provider also can help you choose an appropriate light therapy box. Internet retailers, drugstores and even some hardware stores offer a wide variety of light therapy boxes and other light devices for seasonal affective disorder treatment. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the variety of features and options to help ensure that you buy a light therapy box that's safe and effective for you.
- Morgan AJ, et al. Self-help interventions for depressive disorders and depressive symptoms: A systematic review. Annals of General Psychiatry. 2008;7:13.
- Glickman G, et al. Light therapy for seasonal affective disorder with blue narrow-band light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Biological Psychiatry. 2006;59(6):502-507.
- Desan PH, et al. A controlled trial of the Litebook light-emitting diode (LED) light therapy device for treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). BMC Psychiatry. 2007;7:38.
- Lurie SJ, et al. Seasonal affective disorder. American Family Physician. 2006;74(9): 1521-4.
- Byrne B, et al. Seasonal affective disorder and light therapy. Sleep Medicine Clinics. 2008;3:307-315.
- Even C, et al. Efficacy of light therapy in nonseasonal depression: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2008;108(1-2):11-23.
- Rosenthal NE. Winter Blues: Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder. Rev. ed. New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press; 2006:113-165.
