As a Florida native, my world was rocked (and not in a good way) when I encountered my first real Winter after moving to New York City. The temperatures dipped far below 40 degrees (which is about as frigid as it gets in the Sunshine State), piles of snow remained on the streets for weeks on end without melting, the sun was already set by the time I left my office to commute home, and I basically morphed into the Michelin Man because of how many clothing layers I wore every day [1].

To top things off, my mood drastically changed during the darker Winter months, transforming me from my usual happy-go-lucky self to a lethargic slug who rushed home after work to burrito in the sheets, calculate how many days were left until Spring, and maybe even shed a few tears.

I talk to my mom on the phone pretty much every day, so naturally, she noticed the steady shift in my overall mood as I struggled to deal with the Winter blues [2]. As a doctor, she diagnosed me with Seasonal Affective Disorder [3] — or SAD, for short, somewhat ironically — and ordered me the Verilux HappyLight Touch Therapy Tablet on Amazon [4] as the potential solution to my woes. It's been about a year and a half since my lamp was delivered, and rarely a day has gone by since then without excitedly mashing that "on" button to reap its healing benefits (more on those ahead).

Final Thoughts

As you can likely tell by now, I'm pretty obsessed with my happy light and credit it for helping me overcome my now-former bouts of SAD. However, I can't positively say that it's going to be the holy grail of SAD-fighting weapons for everyone. If you're experiencing more severe depression symptoms [5], such as feelings of worthlessness or an inability to get out of bed and take care of yourself, set up an appointment with a physician to learn what your treatment options are.