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Light treatment of seasonal affective disorder in Switzerland
Author(s) -
WirzJustice A.,
Bucheli C.,
Graw P.,
Kielholz P.,
Fisch H.U.,
Woggon B.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1986.tb10606.x
Subject(s) - light therapy , mood , depression (economics) , psychology , appetite , population , placebo , psychiatry , craving , medicine , audiology , alternative medicine , environmental health , pathology , addiction , economics , macroeconomics
— Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has been characterised by two or more depressive episodes in autumn or winter (with remission the following spring or summer), decreased energy, increased sleep, increased appetite, weight gain and carbohydrate craving. SAD patients were identified in a Swiss‐German population; 22 participated in a light‐therapy protocol (1 week bright white light 2500 lux or dim yellow light 250 lux, from 06–08h and 18–20h). Both observer and self‐ratings indicated a significant diminution of depressive symptoms with both lights. One week after withdrawal from yellow light, depression ratings relapsed to previous values; remission lasted longer after bright white light. Global VAS self‐rating scales for “mood” and “well‐being” however, and the Hamilton scale for atypical SAD symptoms, differentiated clearly between bright and dim light: only bright light showed an improvement that persisted after withdrawal. These results suggest that even though a placebo effect cannot be excluded, 4 h explicit light exposure/day may not be a negligible quantity. Light treatment promises to be a useful non‐phar macological intervention in certain forms of depressive illness.