Anyone use those daylight alarm clocks?

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For SAD, or otherwise?

I don't know if I have SAD or just perma-depression, but I feel worse in the winter, and I was wondering if those things work.

Winter is usually the most depressive time of the year. Maybe because we get out less than usual so we are faced with our thoughts more than usual.

Yes, I use one. For when I had a job starting at 7.30 - 7.45 in Scotland, with horrible horrible strip lighting in an office, it was vital to getting through the winter. Without it, I felt awful all the time.

I have an alarm clock which gradually gets lighter for 30 minutes before the alarm sounds. It's a much more gentle way to wake up. Before, old alarm clocks always made me feel like I'd been slapped in the face.

I think you guys might have sold one to me. I'll give it a try because I can e-bay it if it doesn't work for me.

I have a SAD lamp. It is 10,000 lux and helps me during the winter. I am so interested in the whole light therapy thing and electromagnetic energy has become a special interest of mine. I was also obsessed with SAD for a while. In the UK during December and January we do not get any ultrviolet from the sun at all. And apparently this affects our sleep/wake cycle and also our moods. I certainly go into hibernation mode at this time. The bright light helps me to wake up and face the day. I always feel more alert after using it for half an hour.

But I think part of my AS makes me sensitive to light. In the summer I can get very agitated and excited and do not sleep very much. In the winter the opposite and I sleep all the time.

I tried a Lumie Bodyclock for a few years. Rarely it would wake me up with the light and it was nice. Other times I would be facing the other way so it failed completely! It was also poorly made and feel apart in multiple ways after a while. If you get one don't get a Lumie (sorry if you've already bought one).

I'm trying Shake Awake now! Just waiting for it to arrive in the next couple of days.

I've caved in, and ordered a SAD light from Amazon. I'm poor, so I can't afford one of the more expensive "clocks" that comes on gradually in the morning, but I have one I can switch on when the alarm rings, and have it on for about twenty minutes or an hour before I get up. I've been pretty non functional off and on for the last week, and I'm desperate for something that will help.

I should purchase one for myself. I think it would help out a lot. How much do they cost?

The one I got was very cheap, at £36, but most of them are over a hundred. You can also, apparently, get UV light bulbs... that might be a good idea. They're about £17. Seems to me that for something that is supposed to be so helpful for so many people they're being priced out of most folks reach.

There are relatively inexpensive timers you can buy that plug into an electrical outlet ...

one example here: http://www.smarthome.com/2046/Programma ... mer/p.aspx

... and then turn a light on/off at specific times, and I used to use something similar (a timer from an old coffee pot) to turn on a light 30 minutes before I had to get up in the morning. But now that I no longer work, I just let sunlight wake me up whenever it does.

Most of them don't seem that expensive. Even Philips is £70 and there are some for £20 ish.

People I've spoken to in France say they know a lot of people that use them. I could so with one these days. And lots more winter clothes too.

Just in case anyone was interested in the shake awake then I'd say don't bother as it's a nightmare, then again I know this thread was more concerned with SAD.

I've just received mine, started using it. Hard to say whether it's working or not... here's hoping.