I do definitely suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  Round about October time I can feel the fog descending, and once the clocks have gone back it is all I can do not to crawl under the duvet and hibernate. Unfortunately the carb-fest of Christmas does nothing to help this, which usually means that by this time of year I feel pretty foul.

I’ve always been interested in the idea of light therapy to treat SAD. It sounds too good to be true but would be fantastic if it was just as simple as that. The only thing that has put me off so far has been the cost - most units cost over £200 which for me was too much to invest if it turned out to be a myth.

So when the good folks at BzzAgent gave me the Philips goLITE BLU energy light to test, I got very excited.  I jumped at the chance to finally try this therapy for myself. For those of you that don’t know, BzzAgent is a great programme that gives you free (or in this case heavily discounted) products for you to try, in return for which you promise to spread the word if they are any good.  I’ve had lots of great stuff from them over the years and would recommend them to any mums who like trying new things.

Back to the goLITE - it was quite a lot smaller than I expected it to be and comes with a mains charger for a rechargeable battery, a carrying case, and a really nifty foldaway magnetic stand.  It sits nicely on your desk, looks good and is very easy to set up and use.  You are supposed to use it for 15 minutes a day in the mornings, so I do mine, after the school run, with my first cup of coffee while the computer is warming up.

The light that comes from the device is bright blue, the colour of a midsummer sky. It's very pleasant to sit in the office basking in it, and it certainly makes a lovely difference from the grey sky outside. According to the advertising bumf, independent clinical research shows that the blue light from the summer sky causes us to be active and energetic and lifts our mood. Just the idea that I might have a bit of summer sky in my room gives me happy thoughts in the morning and it does seem to lift my mood a bit. Active and energetic might be pushing it a bit, but we can always dream....

I tried it on my 8 year old daughter too.  She is impossible to wake and get going in the morning, especially on school days. So I told her the story about the magic blue light that is going to wake her up, and started bringing the light in to her each morning, giving her a target to be dressed  by the time the 15 minutes are up.  I don’t know whether its a placebo effect because she thinks the light is magic, or the fun of the timer game, but she does seem to be quite a lot less dopey when we use the light. That small change in her mood is enough to lift my spirits and make the morning routine easier to bear.

In order to give this machine a full independent trial, I would have to test it again in October and November, when my symptoms are at their worst and nothing seems to lift me. If it works then, I will know for a fact that I have found a miracle - I'll let you know.

However, as soon as the nights start getting a bit lighter in January and the daffodils start sprouting I get a natural lift anyway, and I’m also benefiting from the January healthy eating programme and the pride of having stuck with a New Year’s resolution for four solid weeks. So although my mood is definitely lifted, I can’t say for sure that it is the light doing the magic.

On balance though, I would say that the light has helped me and my family a bit, and if the price was reasonable I would be tempted to buy one.  And this is where I am supposed to produce with a flourish ten voucher codes, offering £100 off the price of one of these devices, reducing it from £249 to £149.  If you would like one of these voucher codes, which are valid until 31/3/11 please email me and  I will gladly send you one.

However before you do, please go and check out Amazon, because last time I looked they had a special offer on with a price of £126.42.  I have no idea how long that is going to last, but if I were you I would bag one at that price. A little taste of summer in the corner of your room - sounds good to me!