World of Psychology

Study shows light therapy to effectively treat mood disorders, including SAD

A study commissioned by the American Psychiatric Association and led by a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has found that light therapy effectively treats mood disorders, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other depressive disorders.

A report of the study, which appeared April 1 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, also finds that the effects of light therapy, also known as phototherapy, are comparable to those found in many clinical studies of antidepressant drug therapy for these disorders.

The findings were based on a meta-analysis, a systematic statistical review of 20 randomized, controlled studies previously reported in the scientific literature. These represented only 12 percent of 173 published studies that the authors had originally considered for review.


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Join the Conversation! Post a Comment:


(Required, will be published)

(Required, but will not be published)

(Optional)


    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 4 Apr 2005

 


Recent Comments
  • Scott Volltrauer: I enjoyed this article and saved it for a client. I felt that she would appreciate it’s...
  • Dee: Bonnie, I am sorry if you feel like anything I have said hurts you. This is not my intention. I do feel for you...
  • Allison: It IS unethical for a therapist to drop you without notice. A therapist *supposedly) is trained to handle...
  • vivalaleta: Have any studies been done to ascertain whether the correlation between bipolarity and these suicides...
  • men.attracted.to.women: Hi pleasant post. I believe these points might be structural too. Now the solid pick up lines...
Article Tools
Bookmark
Print
Email Friend


Stumble It!


Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter


Users Online: 1432
Join Us Now!




Follow us on Twitter!

Find us on Facebook!