With red light therapy becoming more popular, we wanted to know whether RLT could help those dealing with depression. So, can red light therapy help with depression and anxiety?
Are you facing negative thoughts lately? Do you feel like your whole world is falling apart? Do you often feel tired, irritated, nervous, or anxious? Well, that sounds pretty familiar for someone suffering from depression, be it a seasonal affective disorder or other depression type.
Therefore, today we are going to tackle the problem of whether RLT can reduce the symptoms of depression in millions of people globally.
Source: bengreenfieldlife.com
Can Red Light Therapy Help With Depression?
Nowadays, mental health is more affected than ever due to the devastating Covid 19 pandemic that took the world by storm. Even though it is no longer a global health emergency, our lives drastically changed in the last three years.
People today are more aware of their mental health and strive to improve it by visiting mental health care professionals and many available psychotherapies and expert counseling.
However, since red light therapy has become increasingly popular among wellness enthusiasts, many people want to know about RLT regarding depression. More specifically- can red light therapy help with depression and other mental health conditions.
How RLT works
In fact, when your body is exposed to RLT, it often absorbs wavelengths of natural red and infrared light.
Those are the wavelengths you can always find from the sunlight but without the harmful UV rays. It is always essential to know that natural light increases the mitochondria levels within your body for better energy production. The same procedure the red light therapy provides to your body when exposed to red light devices.
In fact, when your body is exposed to red light therapy, it often absorbs wavelengths of natural red and infrared light.
The excellent red light therapy can perfectly replace natural sunlight you can’t otherwise get naturally.
When your head is exposed to RLT, the efficient wavelengths will go beyond your skin surface and positively affect the brain cells without damaging them. The mitochondria absorb this essential light, which can boost your cerebral metabolism, improve neuroplasticity, and increase oxygen consumption.
Red Light Therapy, SAD, and depression
There is significant scientifically-backed proof showing that red light therapy can have enormous potential to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or other seasonal mental health conditions.
It is essential to know that SAD is classified as a major depression type with a seasonal pattern that affects millions of people, starting in late fall or early winter months when they can’t find natural sunlight.
Several mental health professionals have provided scientific proof that red light therapy may help treat depression with tremendous experience in treating psychological disorders.
They have concluded that red light therapy may significantly improve a person’s mental health by providing its antidepressant properties.
Excellent red light therapy may significantly reduce depressive symptoms and treat depressive episodes in people when combined with psychotherapy and hypnosis, using NIR light and red light therapy treatments.
Read more: Does Red Light Therapy Help Vertigo?
A Deeper Look Into How Red Light Therapy Can Improve Your Mental Health
You should look deeper into RLT if you are looking for ways to naturally improve your mental health by affecting the mitochondria within your body and increasing your energy levels naturally.
It is also crucial to know that red light therapy can support your metabolic activity to optimize the chemical reaction in your brain and the rest of your body.
Before you start your journey to self-improvement using the efficient red light therapy, you should also know that this red light treatment can also have many other benefits on your overall mental health activity and welfare:
RLT may improve your sleep
This efficient therapy can stimulate the hypothalamus within your brain and boost your mental health by providing better sleep patterns.
This therapy might help increase the melatonin levels within your body and provide a calming effect leading to a night of restful sleep.
RLT may help achieve complete body and mind wellness
Since it’s used for medicinal and inflammatory skin purposes, red light therapy may help in reducing inflammation, sleeplessness, and depression. Photobiomodulation therapy may also improve circulation, metabolic capacity, and metabolic activity and help you achieve complete mind and body wellness.
It is also crucial to know that the state of wellness does not only mean an absence of illness. It is an essential interaction between emotional, physical, and mental states and well-being. For that purpose, we can say that red light therapy can strengthen the bonds among these states and improve overall body and mental welfare.
Read More: How to Use Red Light Therapy for Eyes
Medical Consultation
Before you start using red light therapy devices, whether at your home or with professionals, it is always required to consult with a physician in order to ensure your safety and overall health protection.
This therapy can be entirely beneficial for your mind and body, and it is highly recommended to be used appropriately.
Since many health experts highly recommend this therapy, you can be entirely sure that RLT may be beneficial and provide the best results for your overall wellness.
For that purpose, consulting with a dermatologist or health professional is always required in order to see what type of red light therapy will suit your needs the most.
Conclusion
To conclude, can red light therapy help with depression?
If you’re well-prepared to make essential changes in your life and get rid of stress and depression, red light therapy might be an excellent option to do that.
Consider this type of treatment whenever you want to improve your mental health and significantly improve the quality of your life. Your physical and mental health are equally important, so start investing in them correctly!
Hello! I’m Nicky Rodgers.
Almost a decade ago, I got excited about the idea of employing alternative methods like red light therapy to create a healthier life.
To learn more about it, I did my Certified Light Therapist course from Photonic Therapy Institute and started looking into the intricacies of how light therapy influences several bodily processes. Before I knew it, my interest had become an obsession which resulted in this extensive blog.
Here, I offer countless well-researched articles to help you understand the benefits and uses of light therapy. I hope this information gives you a head start in your wellness journey.