Posted by anniebananie on July 5, 2002, at 14:02:31
In reply to Day is day, and night is night, posted by Cece on June 13, 2002, at 23:46:11
At this point I feel compelled to come back for just a minute because I am the niece and I was posting here a lot some months back and suddenly stopped. (First a houseguest was taking up the space near the computer and then I got a phone bill and realized how much time I was spending online and that it was taking up too much of my disposable income.) Sorry if I caused anybody any concern.
When I found out my aunt was posting about what many of my friends are now calling the "candlelight vigil", I decided to check out what people here thought about it, see if anyone else had tried it, all that. Having read the thread, I just wanted to fill in a few details...
Yes, I'm bipolar I, diagnosed 11 yrs ago, 2 manic episodes, lots and lots of continuous low-grade depression, a bit of the more severe stuff every now and then. When I commenced with the candlelight in March, there had been two prior changes that I think were also quite significant for me, only one of which I can say is a good thing for everyone.
The first is excercize (4-7 days a week of 1-2 hrs bicycling) which made a big difference in my mood and quality of sleep. Five months later I pressured my psychiatrist to let me try stimulants for the ADD that he had told me he thought I have. Despite the risk. There was a tremendous improvement in my clarity of thought -- for me the ultimate indicator of well-being.
About a month after that when my aunt mentioned her doctor's hypothesis about the light, it rang true enough for me that I decided to test it for myself for a month. Not only is it lovely and relaxing, but falling asleep and waking up are as effortless as they have ever been for me. I can only compare the effortlessness of getting the right amount of sleep to what happened when I began to eat when I'm hungry and not to eat when I'm not. The natural light seems to regulate my appetite for sleep. And I think I get additional benefits from the nightly ritual of candle-lighting.
I'm having no trouble studying by candlelight and have no plans to return to electric illumination. When winter comes, I'll simply have more hours during which I'll be burning candles.
Must get back to epidemiology.
Take care,
Annie
poster:anniebananie
thread:109765
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111484.html