학술논문
Improvement in Depression Scores After 1 Hour of Light Therapy Treatment in Patients With Seasonal Affective Disorder
Document Type
Article
Author
Source
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease; January 2012, Vol. 200 Issue: 1 p51-55, 5p
Subject
Language
ISSN
00223018; 1539736X
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate possible rapid effects of light therapy on depressed mood in patients with seasonal affective disorder. Participants received 1 hour of bright light therapy and 1 hour of placebo dim red light in a randomized order crossover design. Depressed mood was measured at baseline and after each hour of light treatment using two self-report depression scales (Profile of Mood States–Depression-Dejection POMS-D subscale and the Beck Depression Inventory II BDI-II). When light effects were grouped for the two sessions, there was significantly greater reduction in self-report depression scores by −1.3 (p= 0.02) on the BDI-II and −1.2 (p= 0.02) on the POMS-D. A significant but modest improvement was detected after a single active light session. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to document an immediate improvement with light treatment using a placebo-controlled design with a clinical sample of depressed individuals.