Susie’s Got a Litebook

posted at 5:53 pm
on Jan. 8, 2007

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I got Susie a litebook this fall.  Not a “non-heavy” book, nor a light “thing-to-read”.  A litebook is a bunch of LED lights that you’re supposed to shine at your face for a little while each day.

It’s supposed to mimic the effects of sunlight, and keep you from getting seasonal affective disorder, aka SAD.

Susie was not a very happy person last winter, and I’d heard about these lights being a good technique to help in the dark winter months.

Sarah told me about Litebook but I had heard about them from who knows where a long time ago, and filed it away in my brain under “christmas lights, no, the other kind” and kinda forgot about it until she reminded me.

So far, though, I don’t know if they’re working.  Susie’s been pretty happy because our families were here for Christmas (and nothing bad happened!)  At the same time, she hasn’t really established a routine for using the Litebook.  So we’ll see if she starts to use it, and if she even needs to this year.  Right now, I think the only effect it’s had on her is that she just feels a little guilty for not using it.

I will say that when I’ve tried it, it’s REALLY bright.  It’s one of those things that you think—hey, it can’t really be this easy to change your mood, can it?  But then I read about this study: In summary, if you put a poster of eyes over an honor-system collection bowl like at a coffee station, people are THREE TIMES more likely to contribute. This, even though people consciously knew that they weren’t more watched when the poster was present.

So environment can really affect behavior and mood, too.  Anyway, I’ll let you know if the Litebook turns out to be a good thing or not, but I’m glad we have it, and I’ll be more glad if it turns out to be a help.

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