Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder in a Clinical Office Setting

The degree of seasonality is associated with the response to light therapy for seasonal affective disorder.

• Higher severity of depressive symptoms at the start, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, predicted a lower likelihood of achieving full remission within 7 days.
• The degree of disability, determined by the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, was identified as a predictor of response to light therapy.
• Sleep patterns at a fixed treatment time of 7 AM did not influence the response to light therapy.
• Light therapy demonstrated effectiveness on its own, while the impact of combining it with existing antidepressant medications yielded mixed results.
• These findings suggest that assessing seasonality may help clinicians recommend light therapy as a treatment option.

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