As pioneers of bright light therapy for SAD treatment, we at Northern Light Technologies have been building clinically tested, durable, sleek and efficient products for over 35 years. In all that time, we’ve always put the customer first—never compromising on quality: our lamps are still proudly made in Canada, approved for medical use, feature a lifetime guarantee, and use state-of-the-art fluorescents, LEDs and UV filters to provide the utmost in safe, effective bright light therapy.
Seasonal affective disorder alone affects as much as 10% of the population at northern latitudes, as people experience fewer hours of daylight during winter months. So, for all those who suffer from seasonal or circadian disorders, we’re here to provide light therapy solutions to meet each of our customers’ specific needs and lifestyles.
Our lamps have been used the world over : prescribed by psychiatrists, promoted by healthcare organizations and professionals, and even adopted for lighting public spaces. If you think you might be suffering from the winter blues, or other circadian disorders, don’t compromise on your mental health; invest in it.
Our lamps have been tested in upwards of 15 previous Clinical Studies, with more currently underway. For more information, visit our research page.
Over our 35 years providing light therapy care, we’ve built up numerous partnerships with psychiatrists, mental health and medical institutions, and non-profits. Plus, unlike many competing products, our lamps have been tested to ensure compliance with the highest medical and safety standards:
Internally, our Research Director, Jeff Nador (PhD), is currently involved in expanding these partnerships, while integrating new technologies into our existing product lineup, as well as innovating our products to ensure they’re optimized to meet or overcome ergonomic and psychophysical constraints. For example, we ensure that our lamps not only produce 10,000 Lux, but also meet standards for melanopic EDI by utilizing specifically tuned light sources and UV filters. All this ensures that our products provide the best possible care, by specifically targeting the retinal cells (ipRGCs) that set the body’s circadian rhythm.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a relatively common form of depression that tends to show up during the ‘darker’ months of the year (fall and winter), when days are shorter and sunlight is relatively scarce (NIMH, 2023; APA; CMHA). This psychiatric condition usually presents as an annually recurring pattern of depressive episodes, sometimes interspersed with periods of mania. It was first described by Dr Norman Rosenthal and colleagues in 1984, who also found that daily exposure to bright light during winter months—when daylight is scarce—could greatly reduce its symptoms’ severity, or even eliminate them altogether.
Bright light therapy (BLT) has since become psychiatrists’ preferred treatment for patients who suffer from SAD (NIMH, 2023; APA; CMHA). In that time, a bevy of clinical studies have shown that BLT provides comparable relief to even the most effective antidepressant medications (Avery et al., 2001; Anderson et al., 2009; Lavoie et al., 2009; Ağargün et al., 2013), but with substantially fewer side-effects. More recently, meta analyses (the combined results of many clinical trials) have confirmed BLT’s effectiveness in treating SAD (Golden et al., 2005; Geoffroy et al., 2019; Pjrek et al., 2020), leading the scientific community to the consensus that BLT is among the safest and most effective treatments for SAD.
The circadian system controls the levels of two important substances in mood regulation: vitamin D (its production begins with absorption of UV rays by the skin), and the hormone melatonin (darkness triggers its production). Naturally, morning sunlight actually stops your brain’s production of melatonin.Light-sensitive cells in your retina (called intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells) signal the start of a new day by sending a message to areas of the brain that regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle.
So, when you don’t get enough early-morning sunlight, your eyes won’t send the ‘reset’ signal to your brain, and your circadian rhythm ends up offset from its usual 24 hour cycle. That’s why, especially during the darker days of winter, it’s important to make sure you’re still exposed to enough sunlight to keep your biological clock ticking properly. The melatonin and vitamin D that get released according to this biological clock also help regulate your mood, meaning that—when it goes far too long without regular resets—you may be more susceptible to depression. The CMHA, APA and NIMH all recommend getting 20-30 minutes of exposure to bright light every morning (NIMH, 2023; APA; CMHA) in order to avoid SAD, but also as a safe treatment that avoids common side-effects of antidepressant medications.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to diagnosing SAD; in general, the best way to find out is to consult a psychiatrist. But, before taking the time to do that, it can be helpful to know what the disorder can look like, because its symptoms vary quite a bit from person to person. SAD typically presents no differently from other forms of depression, except that it occurs—as its name makes obvious—seasonally. Often, psychiatrists will use tools like the Beck Depression Inventory to screen for depression, which measures the signs and symptoms included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or the International Classification of Diseases :
For winter-pattern SAD, additional symptoms can include:
It’s also well worth noting that not all of these symptoms need to be present before a psychiatrist might diagnose one of their patients with depression or SAD. For instance, psychiatrists will consider a global assessment of functioning in diagnoses—that is, whether the experiences that their patients describe interfere with their daily life. If, for instance, a patient’s loss of interest in activities with their spouse is putting their marriage in jeopardy, or their lack of concentration at work is putting their job at risk, it could lead their psychiatrist to diagnose them with depression. So, while it can be useful to know the symptoms and signs of depression, if you think you might be suffering from SAD—or maybe just a bout of the winter blues—you can use CET’s helpful online self-assessments to figure out whether seeing a psychiatrist is the right decision for you.
SAD is known to respond to many different treatments, with varying degrees of success, depending on patient uptake. There are a bevy of other personal characteristics that can determine which course of treatment will work best for a particular person, and how well it will work for them. However, whether a psychiatrist prescribes medications or BLT for a patient’s seasonal depression, among the most important factors beyond a proper diagnosis is adherence to the treatment plan.
In the case of SAD, meta-analyses have repeatedly shown that BLT is as effective as antidepressants on average, and even improves effectiveness of treatment when combined with antidepressant therapy, all while minimizing the risk of side-effects, usually associated with anti-depressant medications. In fact, many of the studies included in these meta-analyses have used NLT’s own products, like the BOXElite. (To see a sampling of the many studies that have used our products, see our literature page).
Of course, knowing how any individual patient will respond to either antidepressants or BLT is sometimes as much an art as a science. Unfortunately, a few studies have shown that not everyone responds to light therapy, and some medical conditions that make the skin/retina very sensitive could take light therapy off the table as a treatment option. So, to find out if light therapy is the right option for you—before deciding on a treatment plan—make sure to consult your psychiatrist!
Our lamp has featured in The New York Times, health.com.
In addition to clinical testing, our lamps have been certified to comply with the highest medical and safety standards. We continually update our products’ certifications as we develop them, to ensure that they evolve in alignment with best practices, incorporating new technologies as well as insights from current translational research.
We’re proud partners of several nonprofit and research organizations, as well as individual labs and researchers who help us develop our products. Without any doubt, these collaborations remain the single most important way for us to refine our products, by finding out what really works for the widest number of people from all walks of life. For example, we’re proud to supply our products to the Center for Environmental Therapeutics and the Lightbrary Project. We have a long history of clinical research participation, and we’re proud to continue supplying our products in large-scale clinical studies like CircaPain, currently under way to test whether light therapy can effectively combat chronic pain.
We offer a range of products to suit a variety of different ergonomic needs and lifestyles. If you feel like you could benefit from a boost of light during the darker days of winter, or you’re looking for customizable lighting solutions for your home or workspace, we’re here to help find the one that’s right for you.
BOXelite — This high-quality light box is ergonomically designed to emit bright, diffuse light through its 12” X 15” front fascia to minimize glare while providing 10,000 Lux at a class-leading 14” distance, all while drawing only 72 W of power to maximize efficiency. This makes the BOXelite comfortable and easy to use while reading, eating, or working. Clinician recommended for the treatment of the Winter Blues, the BOXelite provides effective light therapy treatment in as little as 3 weeks, and requires only 20 minutes per session.
Flamingo II Floor Lamp — Designed to suit a variety of different lifestyles and settings, its 48” stand and swivelling head provide 10,000 Lux of bright white from two 18 W LED bulbs, at a distance of 12”. Its long, heavy-duty power cord can be hidden in the lamp’s sturdy base, letting you place it easily, whether next to your stationary bike, or in an office workspace or waiting room.
Mini LUXOR — Its sleek, durable pyramid design houses an incredibly efficient 20 W LED bulb, producing 10,000 Lux of bright, diffused and even light at 10” without any flicker, or hum. Like our other products, its acrylic filter reduces glare and removes harmful UV rays, to ensure you get the most from your light therapy sessions.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is thought to affect between 1 and 10 percent of people, depending on latitude. People in more northern or southern climates experience shorter days—and less sunlight—during winter months. Usually, bright morning sunlight is the signal that helps your body reset its internal clock: helping break down melatonin (the hormone that causes drowsiness and promotes sleep), and process vitamin D (which helps regulate mood).
With 35 years of experience in building and testing bright light therapy devices, we’ve fostered several partnerships with research labs and organizations who specialize in providing information and help for patients and practitioners alike.
If you’ve come this far, but you still have questions about SAD, light therapy or other related topics, have a look at the questions others have asked us to see if we can help answer it. If not, feel free to contact us for support or more information!
For a full list of products we offer, and more information about each of them, have a look through our product information page. We’re sure we can help you find the bright light therapy solution that suits your needs and lifestyle.
From the outset, Northern Light Technologies has been singularly focused on building the best in clinically tested, safe, durable, sleek and efficient light therapy products for over 35 years. We’ve sold hundreds of thousands of lamps in that time, without ever compromising on quality. Our products are repeatedly tested and updated to ensure they meet the highest safety and medical standards; that’s why we’re trusted and recommended by mental healthcare professionals and patients alike. If you think you could benefit from bright light therapy, our lineup of sleek, ergonomic lamps—designed for home, office and travel—are sure to suit your lifestyle. We’re committed to providing evidence-based light therapy solutions that meet our customers’ specific needs and lifestyles. Check out our product page now to see how our lamps can do the same for you.
