10 best SAD lamps to banish the winter blues

In winter, you might find you feel a little flat. The short days and long, dark nights can affect your mood, and it’s no surprise. In the UK, the ‘shortest’ day sees less than eight hours of sunlight. If you find your mood altered by the changing seasons, you may have seasonal affective disorder (commonly known as SAD). If that’s the case, investing in one of the best SAD lamps can give you a much-needed mood boost.

“If your feelings are interfering with your everyday life, it could be a sign that you have depression,” explains Stephen Buckley, head of information at Mind. “If [those feelings] keep coming back at the same time of year, doctors might call this seasonal affective disorder (SAD)”.

Ring a bell? Well, SAD lamps are here to make life a little brighter again. Often called therapy lights, SAD lamps are very bright lamps that you sit in front of, ideally in the morning and around lunchtime. As the bright light hits you, your brain will be cajoled into slowing down the production of melatonin (the hormone responsible for sleep) and instead start pumping out serotonin (the hormone in charge of how you feel). This will improve your sense of well-being and help boost your energy levels.

You need a light that ideally blasts out around 10,000 lux (lux is the measurement of brightness) but