If you've ever thought of buying an indoor water fountain the winter is probably one of the best seasons to give it a start. Not only are many water fountains on sale, but you can feel your indoor fountain's positive effects more strongly that you would at other times of the year. An indoor water fountain can cheer you up and help banish cabin fever on cold, miserable days when you have to stay indoors.
Winter blues is all in your head, but it's more than your imagination or the simple expectation that winter is going to be miserable. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is now a well know condition that is suspected to be related to low light and melatonin levels in suffers. People who need treatment for SAD usually experience the effects of clinical depression throughout the winter: a condition that can have serious health repercussions.
SAD doesn't hit everyone; it's the worst edge of winter's effects on mood. Light therapy is indicated for serious SAD sufferers (and in the winter, everyone should try to get a little sun, subject to protecting themselves from UV), but for most people winter associations can be depressing as well. Light is the main culprit, but the constant reminders of winter just makes it worse - and that's where an indoor water fountain can help.
A properly placed indoor water fountain wards off the signs of winter in a number of ways. First of all, the presence of flowing, liquid water is an excellent counter to the ice and snow of the season, inspiring emotional associations that aren't normally a part of the winter experience. Second, the sound is soothing, and completely unlike the crunching sounds of outdoor shoveling or the rumble of a furnace. In fact, an indoor fountain is an excellent source of 'white noise' that drowns out the sounds of heating vents or space heaters.
Third and most important, when you place an indoor water fountain near a light source the water will scatter the light, spreading it around a room. This makes an indoor water fountain an excellent companion to light therapy. In most cases, the lights used to treat SAD are too bright to have in direct view and unfortunately, tend to lead to rather stark lighting conditions in a room. Even a simple tabletop indoor water fountain can spread the light around, giving a brightly-lit room a more natural ambiance.
This softening light is also unusual for the winter season, where reflective snow and a white sky usually leave everything looking somewhat monochrome. That's not just bad for your emotional health. It's boring, and boredom is the beginning of 'cabin fever,' which may not be recognized like SAD, but certainly causes irritability over the winter season. But whether you're happy or annoyed, an indoor water fountain can help you.
By:John Gill
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