Winter light therapy helps with non-seasonal depression

Light therapy helps with non-seasonal depression
A daily light therapy during the winter months also helps patients with a major depression independent of the season. The results of a recent study show that light therapy was even superior to standard drug therapy.
The efficacy of light therapy has been studied so far, especially in seasonally dependent mood disorders (SAD). Here, in studies with consistent implementation, it achieved response rates of 60-90%. The effect is mainly attributed to the synchronization of the day-night rhythm, which also affects patients with major depression.

With light against depression. Image: sabine hürdler - fotolia

This prompted the study authors from Vancouver to investigate the effectiveness in this indication. The 122 study participants suffered from moderate to severe depression with at least 20 points on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D). The patients were randomized into two groups: one group was treated with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, the other with placebo. In addition, the participants were re-randomized to daily light therapy or pseudo-treatment with an ion beam that emitted only one beep. Patients should be given the therapy every morning after getting up for 30 minutes.

Fluoxetine (20 mg / d) had only a weak effect during therapy. Significantly stronger was the effect of light therapy, with which a total of 50% (without SSRI) and 75.9% (with SSRI) patients achieved a complete remission. This was only 33.3 percent for placebo and 29.0 percent for placebo. The study can be found here.