{"id":7963,"date":"2020-01-06T10:40:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T15:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=7963"},"modified":"2020-01-06T13:59:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T18:59:00","slug":"its-january-should-i-get-a-happy-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7963","title":{"rendered":"It’s January. Should I Get A Happy Light?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pic<\/p>\n

You may have heard of the \u201cwinter blues and blahs\u201d and wondered why in the world the chilly months of the year would make any difference at all for your emotional health. But this condition of being more likely to feel down during winter months is a real thing. And this is just one of the many ways that elements of your life can impact your emotional health without you even realizing it.<\/p>\n

Think of your emotional state like a big playing field. On one side of that field is a more positive sunshiny attitude, and on the other is a more negative cloudy state. Events in your life can tilt that field toward the gloomy side and away from the sunny side. And once your field is tilted, it makes it much harder for you to schlog your way to the more positive side all on your own!<\/p>\n

From a neuroscience perspective, certain stimuli into your brain can cause this emotional shift, and can also be completely imperceptible to you. So if you don\u2019t know they\u2019re even there, you won\u2019t know why you have feelings of sadness or even depression.<\/p>\n

What are these silent inputs that sneak into your brain without your awareness or permission to tilt the emotional playing field toward gloominess? One of them is simply the amount of light you perceive. It turns out that your emotional brain needs light. Not your retinas. Don\u2019t go staring at the sun, shouting to the heavens, \u201cI feel happy!\u201d Obviously direct sunlight on the retinas would be damaging to your eyes.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Rather, your brain needs bright ambient light around you, which brings us back to the issue everyone faces with the winter.<\/p>\n