Light treatments can be as effective as antidepressants for seasonal mood problems, study says

• People affected by seasonal mood disorders can literally lighten up: A new review of 20 studies on the subject finds daily light-box therapy is an effective treatment for these conditions.
• The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also concluded that light therapy for these disorders such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and non-seasonal depression provides results comparable to treatment with antidepressants.
• In light therapy, patients simply spend a set amount of time each day in front of a special box emitting high-intensity light -- usually during sun-deprived autumn or winter months.
• The UNC team reviewed 20 previously published studies, which accounted for just 12 percent of the 173 published studies the researchers originally considered for their review.
• "We found that many reports on the efficacy of light therapy are not based on rigorous study designs.
• This has fueled the controversy in the field as to whether or not light therapy is effective for SAD or for non-seasonal forms of mood disorders," study author Dr. Robert Golden, professor and chairman of psychiatry at UNC, and vice dean of the medical school, said in a prepared statement.
• "But when you throw out all the studies that are methodologically flawed and then conduct a meta-analysis of those that are well-designed, you find that light therapy is an effective treatment not only for SAD but also for depression," Golden said.
• The study appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.