Could Light Therapy Be Helpful for Your Aging Adult’s Depression Symptoms?

Light therapy is such a simple treatment that many people think it shouldn’t be effective at all. In reality, even a few hours of light treatment a week can really help your aging adult to gain some ground in her battle against depression and other ailments.

Caregiver in Hampton Bays NY: Light Therapy For Depression

What Is Light Therapy?

Light therapy involves using special light bulbs or light boxes that give off a type of illumination that is close to what you would get from the sun itself. This treatment is most common in relation to seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, but it can also help with other issues. The light doesn’t burn skin or damage your senior’s eyes, but it inspires her body to create vitamin D and it can help to boost her mood.

Light Therapy Helps Lots of Issues

Using light treatment can help with depression, but it can also help with other problems. If your senior has trouble sleeping or if she’s not making enough serotonin on her own, her doctor may recommend light therapy to augment other treatment options. Light therapy can be especially helpful in cases in which your senior has side effects from medication that can leave her unwilling to continue to take the medication.

Just an Hour a Day

Light therapy is incredibly easy for your aging adult to use since she merely needs to sit near the lightbox or the special lamp for a period of time. This is something she can do while she reads, watches television, or even naps. Make sure that you let home care providers know when your senior normally enjoys using her light therapy lamp so that they can help her stay on schedule.

Talk to Her Doctor

You’ll definitely want to talk to your senior’s doctor about using light therapy and what your senior should watch out for in regards to light therapy. Depending on the time of year, her doctor may even recommend using the special light treatment for longer than an hour or so a day. Her doctor may also want to check in with her regularly to assess whether the light treatment is enough or needs additional help.

Your elderly family member may want to give this a try for several weeks before she decides that it’s not for her. It can take a little while for the benefits to kick in.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring a caregiver in Hampton Bays, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.