The Sunbox Company Blog

An Invitation to join the Conversation about the SunBox and Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and More

Welcome to The SunBox Company’s blog page on light therapy!

Our company was founded in 1985, and we are the original pioneers of the light box / light therapy industry. The SunBoxes we manufacture here in the U.S.A. are used for bright light therapy, also known as seasonal affective disorder therapy (or SAD therapy). We make the best light therapy units available today! Our SAD lights have been prescribed and recommended by over 3,000 health professionals since 1985 to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the winter blues, depression, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

I hope you enjoy our posts. Feel free to leave comments.

Thank you!
Neal Owens, President

Depression Caused by Winter Weather and Being Stuck Indoors

Are you experiencing depression caused by winter weather? Are you stuck indoors, unable to experience the joys of sunshine? Winter weather that traps you inside can wear on your spirits and have you depressed in no time. A Health Poll on weather.com asked: Do you tend to feel depressed during dark winter days? 76.3% said YES, . . . I’m definitely in a better mood when the sun is shining. 22.8% said NO, . . . seasonal changes usually don’t affect my mood. An estimated 25 million Americans notice significant changes in mood and behavior as the seasons change. Another [More…]

Get Kids Up Easier with a Dawn Simulator

“Parents know it. Teachers know it. Teenagers are zombies in the morning.” This statement by Michael Smolensky, Ph.D., and Lynne Lamberg, authors of the book, The Body Clock Guide to Better Health, summarizes the battle faced by parents and teachers of adolescents every day. Using a SunBox dawn simulator can help kids wake up easier. School starts early, the problem of waking kids in time for classes, which generally begin between 7 and 8 a.m., is drawing battle lines between parents and their kids around the country. Delayed daily body rhythms, which normally start to occur around the beginning of [More…]

Winter Blues and Weather Getting To You?

If you’re trapped indoors by bad weather and feeling unexplained fatigue, irritability and sadness, you aren’t alone,” states Neal Owens, of The SunBox Company, citing a U.S. Public Health Service report indicating that one in five people feel worse in winter. January through March is the worst months. Owens combats seasonal blahs by sitting for twenty minutes each day in front of his invention, the SunBox, a special lamp that gives off light 10-20 times brighter than regular indoor light. Daily use of special non-UV bright lights like those sold by Owens’ The SunBox Company www.sunbox.com can reverse, or at [More…]

Holiday Blues or SAD?

Holiday blues or SAD? Many people feel a little sad around the holidays—loss of a family member, holiday stress, and the hustle and bustle can get you down. For some people the holiday season can be a very difficult time of year. It is a time of sadness and loneliness, a time of self-evaluation and reflecting about the past and a time of anxiety about the future year. But how do you know if what you’re feeling more than just the blues? If you have sad, hopeless, or lonely feelings most of the day, nearly every day, for two or [More…]

SAD Solutions to Lighten Your Mood

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine discovered something interesting after reviewing 20 studies. “We found light therapy is an effective treatment not only for SAD but other types of depression as well,” says study leader Robert Golden, MD, professor and chairman of psychiatry. Dr. Golden and his researchers reviewed studies of people aged 18 to 65 with a diagnosed mood disorder. Participants were grouped into four categories: bright light for SAD, bright light for non-seasonal depression, dawn simulation (simulating early dawn with artificial light at lower levels) for SAD, and bright light with [More…]

Boost Your Body’s Depression Fighters

Whether you have a case of the blues or you’ve been diagnosed with depression, your body may hold the keys to fighting a depressed mood. Neurotransmitters, including endorphins and serotonin, are the brain’s messengers that regulate mood, concentration, motivation, and other emotions. And by understanding how these chemicals work, you can use your body to help fight depression. Endorphins. Know that euphoric feeling after an intense workout? Or the contentment you feel after sex? You can thank endorphins for those happy feelings. Serotonin. The neurotransmitter serotonin works to regulate sleep, reduce pain, and improve your mood. When you’re low on [More…]

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