SAD Treatment and Tanning
Submitted by
staff on Sat, 07/25/2009 at 8:32pm.
During the long, dark winter months, SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, can cause depression, loss of energy, and fatigue. Due to the lack of light from UV rays, the body produces melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. Also, melatonin prevents the production of serotonin, a hormone that improves the mood. A lack of serotonin can cause chronic fatigue, depression, and mood swings. This combination of a production of melatonin and cessation of serotonin production has been linked to SAD. The lack of UV rays is the number one cause for these hormone imbalances, which can also affect those who work indoors or otherwise don’t go outside.
Using a tanning bed or receiving light therapy at a tanning salon is one of the best ways to combat SAD by increasing the amount of UV rays you are exposed to. The UV rays absorbed in a tanning bed will increase the amounts of serotonin released in the body, decrease the amount of melatonin produced in the body, and it will also improve your vitamin D absorption, another key nutrient to your health and happiness. While it has not been scientifically proven that tanning in a tanning bed can help fight off SAD, it is somewhere to start when trying to increase your UV ray exposure levels. Too many UV rays can cause skin damage, so use caution.
Light therapy can be used as treatment for SAD and is available at many tanning salons. Light therapy will not cause a burn or a tan, but it works on helping your body, including your eyes, absorb the beneficial quality of light. Light therapy does not use UV rays.
If you suffer, or think you suffer, from SAD, visit your doctor and your local tanning salon to inquire about possible treatment options including tanning and light therapy.
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