Ionized air for depression

High concentrations of negative ions make winter depressed people feel better.

There are lots of people who can tell their own unique stories about how ionized indoor air has made them feel better. And the fact is that high enough concentrations of negative air ions can be used as a method of treatment for depression. Scientists still don't really know exactly how it works, but that high-density ionization can reduce depression disorders is proven in several scientific studies.

Some of the studies have looked at individuals with SAD. The results show that treatment with high concentrations of negative ions at home for 30-60 minutes for about 20 days makes the majority of depressed people feel better. When the ion treatment was completed, their condition worsened shortly afterwards, which showed that treatment had a good effect. Similar results have been demonstrated when the researchers used negative air ions to treat chronic depression.

The good impact of ionized air in depression is in the same order of magnitude as the effects achieved with antidepressant drug therapy. However, the researchers note that it takes quite high concentrations of negative air molecules, to achieve good effect.

Want to read more? Here are links to a couple of the most interesting studies. Both are placebo controlled, which is a requirement for research results to be really reliable:

Bowers B. et al. Controlled trial evaluation of exposure duration to negative air ions for the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. Psychiatry Research 259 (2018) 7–14.

Goel N. et al. Bright light, negative air ions and auditory stimuli produce rapid mood changes in a student population: a placebo-controlled study. Psychological Medicine, 2006, 36, 1253–1263.