How do dawn simulators work

Light has a very special and important effect on the human body. A dawn simulator is a lamp which can be set to gradually produce an artificial sunlight over a set period of time, typically over thirty minutes to two hours, that helps coax you to wake up in a natural fashion.

How could a dawn simulator be useful to you? Or you might have Seasonal Affective Disorder a kind of depression set off by the winter that impacts many and want something to better regulate your circadian rhythm when winter hits.

This wake-up light by Lumie has a pleasing globe shape which emits dawn simulation, making it one of the more stylish dawn simulators. It offers natural sounds you can set to go off in tandem with the dawn setting to simulate a complete natural setting, such as tweeting birds of the flowing of ocean waves. Recently developed smartphone apps for Android and Apple have not been tested clinically. Their instant availability, portability, and price most are free are attractive.

Caution: some use the phone face, some the flash. A research trial to establish efficacy of each is needed. Patients who do not respond to a trial of a phone app should not conclude that a dawn simulator using a bedside lamp would not be effective. Are there any risks? At least she exhibited a slight bit of humor about this.

And one must inquire about bed partners who might be on a later schedule, to avoid triggering conflicts there. But otherwise, to my knowledge, the dawn simulator has not been associated with any adverse effects. Will you try one, so as to be able to advise your patients about them? Phelps stopped accepting honoraria from pharmaceutical companies in but receives honoraria from McGraw-Hill and W.

The efficacy of light therapy in the treatment of mood disorders: a review and meta-analysis of the evidence. Am J Psychiatry. She can get a stylish eye mask though?

The nightlight thing: very bad idea. If you need a nightlight at night, you need an amber one. PS my basic rig is still working 12 years later…. You need cheap. You need cheap but you also want to use your lamp for reading. You want the timer and lamp together? Set it so that the light wakes you up at the time your alarm clock usually would. But would it get me out of bed and into my running shoes? I unboxed it, plugged it in, read through the instruction booklet, read it again and went to sleep.

The clock employs a straightforward technique: half an hour before you want to wake up, the Bodyclock lamp starts to glow, becoming steadily brighter until your chosen wake-up time, when your body should be flooded with the soothing light of a perfectly simulated dawn. The next morning, I felt myself drift slowly out of sleep until, after half an hour, the alarm sounded.

By that time, the room was filled with a soft but bright light, and my cat had done a runner because I had chosen the dawn chorus alarm sound. I woke as if rocked into wakefulness, rather than being slammed into it.