Full Spectrum Clamp Lamp LED Light Therapy for SAD, Shift Work, and Sleep Disorders

Most indoor light is not strong enough to set our circadian rhythms. Commercial lightboxes are expensive and many are underpowered--they provide 10,000 lux only if you have your nose right up to them. I'm a neurologist and psychiatrist who has treated my patients, colleagues at Harvard and MIT, and myself with this very inexpensive, portable light. It can help make waking up easier, increase daytime alertness, treat circadian phase delay (people who tend to go to bed and sleep later and later), shift work sleep disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and daytime sleepiness in neurodegenerative diseases.

1. A shop clamp lamp like https://thd.co/2LmKxHT or an architect's swing-arm lamp

2. An LED bulb, 2000 lumens, daylight (i.e. cool white, 5000K). You will probably have to order the bulb, because hardware stores usually don’t carry these. On Amazon, the Kobi Electric K1N8 20-watt (120-Watt) A21 LED 5000K COOL White Light Bulb, http://amzn.to/2jNLpeA, gets good reviews.

3. An optional diffuser placed over the lamp will be more pleasant. Amazon sells diffuser socks, Goo.gl/JC6Khg. Or use a white plastic shower cap, or even a piece of bedsheet. Because LED bulbs are cool, the diffuser does not risk the lamp overheating. However, if your diffuser is thick, your light will be weaker.

4. An optional lamp timer, e.g. https://amzn.to/2ZERpFF [optional] lets you use the light as "dawn therapy," if you clamp the light to you bed's headboard.

Screw the bulb into the lamp, and place the diffuser over the shade. Plug it in. Done.

You can clamp it directly to your laptop, or to a shelf above your desk. Depending on your bulb, and your diffuser thickness, it will provide ~8000-10000 lux when it is 18" away from your face. You can download a free luxmeter app to your phone if you want to measure lux at different distances. If you can't clamp your light close to you, you can use multiple lamps to maintain your lux. The photo shows two lamps clamped to the flip side of my video conference stand. Remember that lux falls off fast with distance — it decreases proportionally to the inverse of the distance squared

If the light is too glaring at first, move it farther away, and bring it closer as you get more comfortable. It may help to have the rest of the room brightly illuminated, so there is not as much contrast between the light and its surroundings.

• Help with waking up, eg in seasonal affective disorder, shift work sleep disorder, phase delay sleep disorder. Typically, you should use it for at least 30-60 min at a time. If your light provides less than 10,000 lux, use it longer.You can have the lamp turn on automatically with an appliance timer. It's best if you get up at exactly the same time each day, even on weekends.
• Help staying alert during the workday (or worknight). You can use it all day; several colleagues on my hospital floor do this. Just turn it off at least 4 hours before bed
• Use it as a bright light source, e.g. for painting, photography, indoor gardening. I've grown eggplants and citrus in my bedroom by turning my lamp on my plants once I'm done with it each day.

It's as safe as any bright lamp.

• It's safe for your eyes. It's not like looking at the sun. Even if you looked straight at the light for hours, it's providing the illumination you see all around you on a cloudy day.
• It's safe for your skin, and can't cause sunburn. If you plug it in outside and turn it on during daylight, you'll see how weak it is.
• It's safe for headache sufferers. If the light irritates your eyes, start with the light four feet away, then gradually move it close by 6 inches a day.
• It won't start fires. LED bulbs run cool; a standard 2000 lumen bulb won't ignite a diffuser even if it is made of tissue paper.