Recently, I wrote about the wonders of red light therapy.
Because this is an “obsession of the mind” site – we address a plethora of mental disorders. For me, before getting diagnosed with bipolar, all I knew was that red light seemed to chase away the blues, setting the tone for the day. Now, officially gifted with a diagnosis (helpful because now I can actually manage – instead of ignoring – it), I see red light in a different light. I won’t reinvent the wheel and explain all the benefits of red light therapy here or try to convince you of why and how it works so well for so many things. (That article is here. Read and you’ll be convinced on every level to order one for yourself.) Instead, my aim for this stop on the bipolar express is to list the parameters that have worked for me when I have used red light specifically to manage episodes.
It’s also to mention certain caveats if you’re using red light alone to mood-manage.
(I got this cheap Houzzi one off Amazon and it’s great for the price…)
First? The “dose”.
When I initially researched what time increments of RLT you should use for the best effects, it wasn’t for mental health. As mentioned in my first article for this, I was using this modality strictly for vanity reasons. (I mean yo girl can only afford so many trips to the botox doc a year, ya know?) Said dose ended up being about 20 minutes, twice a day. At first, I was being super diligent about it. I made time in the morning. I carved out time in the afternoon. Nearly immediately, both my skin and mood improved. The mood lift I wasn’t expecting. It was a nice side effect, but I figured it was just because the light reminded me of laying in the sunshine – which had always made me feel better. (But which I now avoided because, after 30 you worry about wrinkles.)
Then, when I read the research, it tracked. RLT was used for seasonal affective, depressive, and bipolar patients to mitigate symptoms. Knowing I had something on that list (but not diagnosed/certain yet), I was glad to know I was killing two parakeets with one pebble. So, I kept doing it. Until… I didn’t. Like most people, sometimes I begin a habit and fall off. I didn’t fall off my red light, but I became a little less diligent about my 20 by 2 times a day doseage. First, the time overall got reduced. Then the nighttime dose was sometimes nixed altogether. When started dating someone seriously, sometimes I wouldn’t make time for it at all. Those days weren’t so great, but I wasn’t tracking the correlation. Not until… my red light mask broke altogether.
And here comes the caveat.
I don’t want to say that the mask is “addictive”.
But I will say… I couldn’t order another one fast enough.
The effects of its sudden absence were almost immediate.
Oddly enough, I had somehow become very dependent on it. I was doing it every day, so I took it for granted and didn’t realize just how much I’d come to rely on it as a mood regulator – until suddenly I didn’t have it anymore. The entirety of the next three days felt like moving through a gripping cognitive fog. My body seized up. My brain wasn’t processing. Everything had a dark filter. I didn’t train. I didn’t want to see my boyfriend. And then I got sick. Was part of it psychological? Possibly. But the same thing happened later (once Spring came along and it was sunnier outside and my serotonin was flowing again). Even though I was fully aware I didn’t have my mask, I went through my day nice and normally, sans an episode of any kind. So, I honestly believe that if you’re using this exclusively to regular mood, you may become dependent on it. And, if you suddenly stop it, it *may* trigger a three day long depressive episode. This is just my experience with it, though, and it shouldn’t deter you from using it. The benefits are too many to give up my red light, trust me. All I’m saying’s that you just may wanna look into supplemental options to use alongside it if you’re like me and don’t have the time to do 20 minutes of this twice each day.
Buckle up for more Bipolar Express stops soon…