published by Keats
Publishing Inc., New Canaan, Conn.
Phototherapy for Ordinary Depression?
Being the stimulant it is, could bright light be a tonic for any
kind of depression? Nearly a dozen studies have sought to answer that question.
In these brief trials (never longer than two weeks), bright light has only
been a weak antidepressant for the average nonseasonally depressed patient
and a more potent mood-lifter for perhaps one in five, when compared to
dim light or other control conditions (7). Researchers wonder if longer
trials would yield greater benefits (7).
In the meantime, a few studies suggest bright light can be used, like
thyroid hormone and lithium, to hasten response to slow-acting antidepressant
drugs (and perhaps their natural counterparts) and to convert drug nonresponders
into responders (4,7) .
Evidence so far suggests that nonseasonal depressives most likely to
benefit from light therapy a) are light-deprived, b) have a history of
winter depression, and/or c) have winter-depression-like symptoms (4).
And while morning light therapy is the best bet for winter depressives,
evening light may be preferable for many nonseasonal depressives (4). The
reason for that will become clear when we discuss light's effects on body
rhythms in Chapter 20.
Dealing with Depression Naturally, Second Edition (2000)
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Notes
4. M. A. Hill, "Light, Circadian Rhythms, and Mood Disorders: A Review,"
Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 4 (June 1992): 131-146.
TI: Light, circadian rhythms,
and mood disorders: A review.
AU: Hill,-Michael-A.
IN: U North Carolina School of
Medicine, Chapel Hill, US
JN: Annals-of-Clinical-Psychiatry;
1992 Jun Vol 4(2) 131-146 IS: 10401237
LA: English
PY: 1992
AB: Discusses the relationship
of biological rhythms to environmental modulators (particularly light).
The connection between disturbed circadian rhythms and the symptomatic
expression of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and nonseasonal depression
(NSD) is discussed, and studies on the efficacy of light therapy are reviewed.
Although recent interest has focused on SAD, many patients with NSD also
exhibit disturbed circadian rhythms. Typically, biological rhythm disturbances
seen in both disorders resolve as symptoms abate, suggesting a potential
therapeutic role for interventions that manipulate daily rhythms (e.g.,
light exposure). (ClinPSYC Database Copyright 1993 American Psychological
Assn, all rights reserved)
7. D. F. Kripke et al., "Controlled
Trial of Bright Light for Nonseasonal Major Depressive Disorders," Biological
Psychiatry, 31 (January 15, 1992): 119-134. |
