Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder with Light in the Evening

1985 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. James ◽  
Thomas A. Wehr ◽  
David A. Sack ◽  
Barbara L. Parry ◽  
Norman E. Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Antidepressant Effect ◽  
Comparison Study ◽  
Female Patients ◽  
Dim Light ◽  
Effect Of Light

A cross-over comparison study of exposure, in the evenings only, to bright versus dim light was carried out on nine female patients with seasonal affective disorder. A significant antidepressant effect of the bright lights was shown. No consistent observable effects were produced by the dim lights. These results support earlier studies demonstrating the efficacy of bright light given morning and evening. The antidepressant effect of light is not mediated by sleep deprivation, and the early morning hours are not crucial for a response.

Effects of light treatment upon mood and melatonin in patients with seasonal affective disorder

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Winton ◽  
T. Corn ◽  
L. W. Huson ◽  
C. Franey ◽  
J. Arendt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Light Treatment ◽  
Antidepressant Effect ◽  
Winter Depression ◽  
Plasma Melatonin ◽  
Effect Of Treatment ◽  
Depression Ratings ◽  
Effect Of Light

SynopsisTen patients with seasonal affective disorder received the following treatments for 5 days each: (a) artificial daylight (2500 lux) from 20.00 to 23.00 and from 07.00 to 10.00 hours; (b) red light (300 lux) from 20.00 to 23.00 and from 07.00 to 10.00 hours; (c) artificial daylight (2500 lux) from 22.00 to 23.00 and from 07.00 to 08.00 hours. The antidepressant effect of treatment (a) was superior to that of treatment (b), suggesting that the effect of light treatment in winter depression is more than that of a placebo. The antidepressant effect of treatment (a) was superior to that of treatment (c), although these two treatments equally suppressed plasma melatonin concentrations. Consequently, in these patients there is a dissociation between the effect of light treatment on melatonin and the reduction of depression ratings.

Effects of light treatment on circadian rhythmicity in seasonal affective disorder

1992 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Partonen ◽  
B Appelberg ◽  
S Kajaste ◽  
M Partinen ◽  
M Härmä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Treatment ◽  
Antidepressant Effect ◽  
Treatment Intervention ◽  
Subjective Sleepiness ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Bright Light Exposure

SummaryTwelve outpatients with seasonal affective disorder were treated by 1-h morning bright light exposure for 5 days. The light treatment intervention produced a significant phase advance of self-rated sleepiness rhythm, a significant decrease of the mean level of subjective sleepiness, and a significant reduction of depression scores. No significant objective circadian rhythm phase shift nor amplitude changes would account for the antidepressant effect.

Effects of fluoxetine versus bright light in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 923-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. RUHRMANN ◽  
S. KASPER ◽  
B. HAWELLEK ◽  
B. MARTINEZ ◽  
G. HÖFLICH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Phase Ii ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Remission Rate ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Light Condition ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Antidepressant Effect ◽  
Hamilton Depression Scale ◽  
Light Group

Background. Disturbances of serotonergic neurotransmission appear to be particularly important for the pathophysiology of winter depression. This study investigated whether fluoxetine has antidepressant effects comparable to bright light in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (winter type).Method. A randomized, parallel design was used with rater and patients blind to treatment conditions. One week of placebo (phase I) was followed by 5 weeks of treatment (phase II) with fluoxetine (20 mg per day) and a placebo light condition versus bright light (3000 lux, 2 h per day) and a placebo drug. There were 40 patients (20 in each treatment condition) suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) according to DSM-III-R who had a total score on the Hamilton Depression Scale of at least 16.Results. Forty patients entered phase II and 35 completed it (one drop-out in the fluoxetine group and four in the bright light group). Fourteen (70%) of the patients treated with bright light and 13 (65%) of those treated with fluoxetine were responders (NS). The remission rate in the bright light group tended to be superior (bright light 50%, fluoxetine 25%; P=0·10). Light therapy improved HDRS scores significantly faster, while fluoxetine had a faster effect on atypical symptoms. Light treatment in the morning produced a significantly faster onset of improvement, but at the end of treatment the time of light application seemed not to be crucial.Conclusion. Both treatments produced a good antidepressant effect and were well tolerated. An apparently better response to bright light requires confirmation in a larger sample.

Elevated rectal temperature produced by all-night bright light is reversed by melatonin infusion in men

1991 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 2178-2182 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Strassman ◽  
C. R. Qualls ◽  
E. J. Lisansky ◽  
G. T. Peake
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Rectal Temperature ◽  
Minimum Temperature ◽  
Core Body Temperature ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Exogenous Melatonin ◽  
Dim Light ◽  
Light Sleep

Early morning rectal body temperature is lowest when melatonin levels are highest in humans. Although pharmacological doses of melatonin are hypothermic in humans, the relationship between endogenous melatonin and temperature level has not been investigated. We measured rectal body temperature in nine normal men whose melatonin levels were suppressed by all-night sleep deprivation in bright light and compared values with those seen in sleep in the dark, sleep deprivation in dim light (to control for the stimulatory effect of wakefulness on temperature), and sleep deprivation in bright light with an infusion of exogenous melatonin that replicated endogenous levels. Minimum rectal temperature, calculated from smoothed temperature data from 2300 to 0515 h, was greater in bright-light sleep deprivation, resulting in suppression of melatonin, than in conditions of sleep deprivation in dim light or sleep in the dark. An exogenous melatonin infusion in bright light returned the minimum temperature to that seen in dim-light sleep deprivation. A nonsignificant elevation in mean and minimum temperature was noted in all conditions of sleep deprivation relative to sleep. We conclude that melatonin secretion contributes to the lowering of core body temperature seen in the early morning in humans.

Antidepressant-like effect of bright light is potentiated by l-serine administration in a mouse model of seasonal affective disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 25-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misato Kawai ◽  
Ryosei Goda ◽  
Tsuyoshi Otsuka ◽  
Ayaka Iwamoto ◽  
Nobuo Uotsu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light

Will light brighten the future of the depressed patient?

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.H. Van Den Hoofdakker ◽  
M.C.M. Gordijn
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Treatment ◽  
Psychosocial Variable ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Treatment Experiment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Therapeutic Possibilities

The present explosive growth of interest in the therapeutic possibilities of exposure to light was triggered by a patient, Herbert Kern. He suffered from episodic depressive and manic complaints and discovered, by registering these over the years, a seasonal pattern in their occurrence. Discussions with scientists of the NIMH resulted in his participation in a bright light-treatment experiment when he was depressed in the winter of 1980-1981. He recovered.Next, the same group of investigators defined the criteria for a new syndrome, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): a history of major affective disorder (according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria), at least two consecutive years in which the depressions have occurred during fall or winter and remitted in the following spring or summer, and the absence of any clear-cut seasonally changing psychosocial variable, such as work, stress and so on.

Melatonine en stemmingsstoornissen

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
J. Beullens
Keyword(s):  
Pineal Gland ◽  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Premenstrual Syndrome ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
Melatonin Level ◽  
Melatonin Secretion ◽  
The Relationship

SummaryMelatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland mainly during the night. The discovery that this melatonin secretion decreases under the influence of bright light, gave rise to the use of light therapy in some affective disorders. The literature on the relationship between melatonin secretion and mood is reviewed concerning seasonal affective disorder, non-seasonal affective disorder and premenstrual syndrome. Light therapy could reduce an abnormal high melatonin secretion back to normal proportions. None of the affective disorders, however, is accompanied by an unusual high melatonin level. Nevertheless, light therapy as well as other therapies that suppress melatonin have a therapeutic effect. This is not the case with the administration of melatonin. Mood is not affected by extra melatonin in seasonal affective disorder but it is in both other affective disorders. Melatonin plays a part in the pathogenesis of the affective disorders but it is not yet clear which one.

The Diagnosis, Symptomatology, and Epidemiology of Seasonal Affective Disorder

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 625-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Magnusson ◽  
Timo Partonen
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorder ◽  
Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Therapy ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Emotional Symptoms ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Operational Criteria

AbstractThe operational criteria for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) have undergone several changes since first proposed in 1984. SAD is currently included as a specifier of either bipolar or recurrent major depressive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition has provisional diagnostic criteria for SAD. The most characteristic quality of SAD is that the symptoms usually present during winter and remit in the spring. Furthermore, the symptoms tend to remit when the patients are exposed to daylight or bright light therapy. The cognitive and emotional symptoms are as in other types of depression but the vegetative symptoms are the reverse of classic depressive vegetative symptoms, namely increased sleep and increased appetite. SAD is a common condition, but the exact prevalence rates vary between different studies and countries and is consistently found to be more common in women and in youth. SAD probably possibly occurs in children although not as commonly as in young adults. Some studies have found that certain ethnic groups who live at high northern latitudes may have adapted to the long arctic winter.

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