Thalen et al 1995 ed.
Light therapy for depression research.
All four study results showed that bright light therapy significantly reduced depressive symptoms of older adults with nonseasonal depression.
Four research based articles were included.
But when the light was used instead at midday the same patients often got good outcomes.
As such it s commonly used to treat seasonal affective disorder people who experience their depression and or anxiety worsen during the winter months due to the lack of sunlight.
Light therapy lamps bulbs and devices can help you be more productive and sleep better especially if you experience sad.
It s a white light used to mimic the effects of sunlight.
A 2008 systematic review concluded that overall bright light therapy is an excellent candidate for inclusion into the therapeutic inventory available for the treatment of nonseasonal depression today as adjuvant therapy to antidepressant medication or eventually as stand alone treatment for specific subgroups of depressed patients.
The response to light therapy is quite rapid often within a week or two which is more rapid than the response to antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy he said.
Light therapy is a way to treat seasonal affective disorder sad and certain other conditions by exposure to artificial light.
Seasonal affective disorder sad is a type of depression that typically occurs each year during fall and winter.
That group of researchers had previously shown that morning light therapy could induce mixed states.
A 2018 research trial put light therapy solidly on the map for bipolar depression even though not to the point where light is replacing antidepressants yet.
But for some people light therapy may be more effective when combined with another sad treatment such as an antidepressant or psychological counseling psychotherapy.
The pace of research on bright light therapy has accelerated over the last few years and recently two meta analyses of this research have been published one in the american journal of.
Other studies have found modest or no clear benefit to bright light therapy for nonseasonal depression mackert et al 1990.
Szadoczky et al 1991.
Use of a light therapy box can offer relief.
Our experts tested the best products to try at home.