Free SAD lamps given out as disorder 'makes it hard to do anything on darker days'

Does your mood drop in the winter?The clocks have gone back, it's getting darker and colder, which could mean you may find the winter months particularly hard.Rachel Dineem-Mabe is one of more than a million people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), external in the UK, and says it "takes depression and heightens it to a whole new level".But a new scheme allowing people to borrow SAD lamps from libraries has been launched across Wales to help combat the darker days.SAD happens when shorter days affect your mood, energy levels and overall wellbeing.Rachel, 38, the branch librarian at Skewen Library, said darker days make it hard to do anything."I struggle just getting out of bed sometimes, I just want to hibernate," she said."I don't want to do anything but sleep and it is a real struggle to carry on doing normal everyday things from just dressing, not necessarily because you don't want to but you physically feel unable to."Lorna Beatrice Lombardini, 26, from Cardiff Bay, said it was tough being a student during the winter months."You're inside a lot of the time, working deadlines, exams, and then trying to still have a social life at the same time plus work," she said."I absolutely love the 'say yes' idea, which is even if you get invited to plans, you're thinking it's too cold, it's too dark, I want to stay inside. Just say yes."Even if you go and it doesn't turn out how you want it to go, you can go home and still appreciate home that little bit more but it's always the experiences that you're not expecting that turn out to be the best."She said she already uses lamps to help her with mood, and does feel an improvement."I know that this is a very universal experience but whatever I can do to try and lift the mood a little bit, feel a little bit lighter, I do try and do my best," she said.Eleven Welsh councils are taking part in the scheme, developed by researchers from the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. It forms part of a wider expansion across the UK, following two years of trials in Scotland.The lamps on loan retail at £99, but there are cheaper ones on the market.Hester Parr, from the University of Glasgow, said the boxes available to borrow have been put together based on research of those with lived experience of SAD and contain a booklet, an online course and a lamp."The whole intention of the box is to help people who feel low mood in winter, or feel that they have seasonal affective disorder, make some kind of positive change," she said."This is outside the GP system, it's free to use from your local library, so there's no stigma attached to getting this lovely resource that helps us live well in winter."Emily Van de Venter, from Public Health Wales, said: "People that have been part of the trials have reported benefits and wanted to continue accessing the SAD lamps, evidence has been growing around the benefits that these lamps can bring."She advised using them for about 20 minutes in the morning, and then gain as much daylight exposure during the day as possible.The boxes are available across Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Neath Port Talbot, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys, Conwy, Newport, Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly.If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, support is available via BBC Action Line.