Endorsement of light therapy by the psychopharmacology community
While clinical researchers of light therapy have long concluded that this treatment works well, the larger psychiatric community has been of mixed minds. After nearly 20 years of research, and widespread application, the American Psychiatric Association commissioned a prominent group of psychopharmacologists (not light therapists) to review the literature and make official recommendations. Their consensus report, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, was favorable. Not only did they find bright light therapy and dawn simulation effective for SAD, they considered the improvement well within the range obtained by antidepressant drugs. Of course, they called for additional large-scale clinical trials that follow the model of industry-sponsored trials of antidepressants, but they also acknowledged that without patent protection and exclusive commercial rights, such support remains unlikely for light therapy.
Where’s the research field moving now?
In three words, away from SAD! There has been remarkable new research showing that the benefit of light therapy is not confined to SAD, but also extends to nonseasonal major depression and bipolar disorder. The International Society for Affective Disorders formed a Committee on Chronotherapeutics to focus on light therapy and sleep scheduling methods that are useful for outpatients and inpatients alike. This ambitious project has already produced a white paper, a call to action by the psychiatric community. The Center for Environmental Therapeutics has formed a nonprofit consulting group, Chronotherapeutics Consultants, to coach hospitals and the managed care industry in this new technology. The year 2007 will see their publication of Psychiatric Chronotherapeutics: A Treatment Manual--a first for the field.
Michael Terman, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center.
Sources:
Golden, RN, et al. "The efficacy of light therapy in the treatment of mood disorders: a review and meta-analysis of the evidence." Am J Psychiatry 162.4 (2005): 656-62.
Lam, RW, et al. "The Can-SAD study: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of light therapy and fluoxetine in patients with winter seasonal affective disorder." Am J Psychiatry 163.5 (2006): 805-12.
Modell, JG, et al. "Seasonal affective disorder and its prevention by anticipatory treatment with bupropion XL." Biol Psychiatry 58.8 (2005): 658-67.
Terman, M, JS Terman and DC Ross. "A controlled trial of timed bright light and negative air ionization for treatment of winter depression." Arch Gen Psychiatry 55.10 (1998):875-82.
