As I sit here using my light box, listening to the rain on the roof, I wonder when can I start tapering off using it each morning? I use the light box to help keep my circadian rhythm in tune with the rest of the world. Otherwise, especially in Winter with my tendency toward Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and Delayed Phase Sleep Disorder (i.e. extreme night person!), I would not sleep at night and be useless during the day.
With more natural light in the warm months along with more opportunities to be outside, I don’t need to use the light box every day. I usually taper off sometime in the spring, typically by the beginning of June and then start again in mid-September.
Spring usually brings more energy, you know, that feeling we used to call “Wanting to run naked through the woods”. Not that we did, but it was a pretty good description of the feeling. [There used to be a TV show called Northern Exposure. One episode was about the annual spring “bull” run through town.]. Maybe the feeling has a theme song like the song “Here comes the Sun” by the Beatles. The urge to get outside, to throw open the windows and clean out the dust of winter (see “AT for Spring Cleaning!)
Except one year when spring didn’t come. Oh yes, outside the birds returned and flowers bloomed and the days got longer, but inside me, it was missing. Actually the lack of the “wanting to run naked through the woods” feeling made me even more depressed.
This was more than SAD. For those of you who have had major depression, you know. But it’s hard to explain to people who haven’t been there. I’d get advice like “It’s a beautiful day, get outside, open the blinds, you’ll feel better.” So I’d try and the contrast between the Spring outside and the darkness inside me simply made me feel worse.
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” – T.S. Elliot
Did you know, contrary to a common belief, suicide rates don’t peak during the winter holidays. They are highest in the spring and fall.
If you have SAD and use a light box and find you can’t taper off in the Spring as usual, please reach out and get some help. There’s apparently something called “reverse SAD”. However, it’s also possible that something more than SAD is going on. Depression is a life threatening condition and not to be taken lightly. Please take care of yourselves and of each other.
Tweet
There are so many types of assistive technology, or AT, available today, which improve the daily functioning, quality of life, and independence of individuals with disabilities. One example of AT is a modified vehicle. Residents of Michigan who have a disability or their family members can apply to borrow money from the Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund (MATLF) to obtain needed equipment or tools (assistive technology or AT), modified vehicles or modifications to a vehicle, or home modifications for accessibility through this program. A person can apply to borrow funds to modify his or her own vehicle or apply to borrow monies for a new or used modified vehicle. For such a purchase, it is common for applicants to seek financial assistance through other means such as grants. A wealth of information and resources may be found in the blog article, 
A woman sought a loan to purchase a modified vehicle which would allow her to obtain a van with a wheelchair ramp, for her electric wheelchair. She has a lot of back, leg, and nerve issues, and her husband has cerebral palsy, and he could not help her in getting into the vehicle and getting her manual wheelchair out of the vehicle was difficult for him. She said that this is the first time that she needed a modified vehicle, and She commented that she is “part of the world again”,” saying she was able to go to a White Caps minor league baseball game, which was the first time in six years since she was able to go to one. She said that using MATLF to purchase a modified vehicle changed her life in many ways. She also said that she regained her social life, and was not lying in bed forever anymore, and became able to go out to accomplish her own shopping, explaining that she is now able to shop for her own personal items like clothing. She stated that the loan application process was pretty easy, and complimented UCP of Michigan’s website, for its overview of what information is needed, the loan application process, and outlining how long it should take, that the information was straightforward. She worked with Clock Mobility, who she said was aware of our application process and time requirements, they told her about us, and she selected a vehicle. She made sure it would meet her needs, and ensured that she would be able to get in and out of it on her own.
I grow my plants in raised beds or containers right next to our driveway—seeing them when I come and go reminds me to water them. Raised beds and containers provide a variety of benefits:
