Light therapy shines on other conditions

Exposure to bright light–the treatment of choice for seasonal affective disorder, or SAD–may also help people with other mental health conditions including bulimia nervosa, antepartum depression and nonseasonal depression, preliminary research finds.

“The latest news is that light therapy is just as effective as antidepressants in treating nonseasonal depression–it’s truly exciting,” says Columbia University psychologist Michael Terman, PhD, a SAD researcher who uses both light and medications to treat patients. “The findings almost make me say that it’s only by happenstance that light therapy was discovered and developed in the context of SAD.”

That said, the literature in the area is still sparse, emphasizes Dan Oren, MD, a veteran SAD researcher at Yale University.

“No one has done any solid head-to-head comparisons that prove that one form of treatment is better than another in treating nonseasonal depression,” he notes.

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 4 Feb 2006
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