Natural Light Alarm Clock

SAD Alarm Clock

People with Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD) face unique challenges when it comes to getting up in the morning. Thankfully, there's many a SAD alarm clock available to help.

SAD affects people from all walks of life, disrupting their ability to function whenever the season or even the weather reduces the amount of light they take in during the day. Oversleeping and tiredness during the winter are the classic signs of SAD. Most people with SAD have trouble getting up in the morning during these winter months, due to the fact that there isn't enough light in the morning to trigger the body's wake up call, if there is even light in the morning at all.

Many people with SAD who don't have an actual SAD alarm clock solve this by setting a normal alarm clock early, and then doing their morning light therapy with a standard light therapy box. This can be effective, but it's still fairly unpleasant at the time of waking up. Since the body only gets the light it needs afterward, it can still feel like waking up in the middle of the night.

A SAD alarm clock solves that problem by timing the light to start at a set interval before the desired wake-up time. This could be anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours beforehand. Most models give you at least a little choice in how long beforehand you want the light to come on.

The light itself doesn't just pop on at full blast immediately. SAD alarm clocks do an actual simulated dawn to convince the body that it's the natural wake-up time. The light gets brighter and brighter until the appointed time, when the actual sound alarm will go off, assuming you set it.

Most models have a variety of options for alarm sounds, music, or radio to play at the time, giving a standard traditional alarm clock in addition to the SAD alarm clock functionality. Many of them allow you to put your own mp3s on a micro-storage card and use them as your wake-up alarm. Others allow you to record your own wake-up message directly into the alarm clock. Since these alarm clocks are already a serious investment just for the light therapy component, most companies don't skimp on the sound alarm side either.

By the time the actual sound alarm goes off, if the SAD alarm clock worked correctly, your body should be convinced that it's daytime. It takes different amounts of time for different people; don't assume you'll definitely need to use the two hour setting. Some people find shorter periods better than longer ones.

The standard bulbs that come with most models are generally enough light for most people. However, there are some people who need more light, and most makers acknowledge this by either allowing for additional brighter bulbs or just higher brightness settings on the dawn simulator. It's best to start out with the standard setting and see how things go.

Finally, many SAD alarm clock models also feature an artificial sunset simulator, that's used to aid in falling asleep. Many people find this helpful in convincing their bodies that it's time to rest.