Light Therapy May Help Women with Bipolar Disorder

(January 22, 2008) -- NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bright light therapy can relieve depression in some women with bipolar disorder, a study shows.

Bright light treatment started out as a way to relieve winter depression, but it has since been shown to be effective for seasonal and non-seasonal major depression. It could also benefit people with bipolar disorder, in which moods swing from depression to mania, note the authors of the report in the medical journal Bipolar Disorders.

To see what "dose" of bright light might be best, Dr. Dorothy Sit, of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania, and colleagues conducted a small study with nine women in the depression phase of bipolar disorder who were unresponsive to conventional treatments.

The women were given light boxes and used them for 15, 30, and 45 minutes daily, each for 2-week periods. Four patients used them in the morning and five at midday.

Of the four subjects treated with morning light, three developed mixed states; that is, "symptoms of depression and mania that occur at the same time -- racing thoughts, irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety and low mood," Sit explained in a press release.

The patients in the midday group had a more stable response, so the researchers changed the time of light exposure to midday for all the participants.

Overall, six of the nine patients had some degree of benefit from bright light therapy, once the timing and duration of treatment had been adjusted to individual responses.

advertisement

Sit's team concludes that women with bipolar disease "are highly sensitive to morning bright light treatment." They recommend that patients who do not respond to conventional treatment should begin "with a brief duration (15 minutes) of midday light."

Source: Bipolar Disorders, December 2007

Last updated: 01/08

Related Information:

• Light Treatment Benefits Depression in Bipolar Disorder
• Light Therapy Fights Doldrums with Sun Substitute
• More on Light Therapy
• Exercise Reverses Weight Gain from Antipsychotics
• Harvard Researchers Show Specially Formulated High EPA Omega-3 Supplement Effective as a Stand-Alone Treatment for Children with Bipolar Disorder, ADD
• Health Canada Red Flags Natural Bipolar Remedy
• Nutritional Supplements for Bipolar Disorder
• Nutritional supplements
• Eli Lilly Faces New Lawsuits for Excess Zyprexa Sale
• Serious Side-Effects From Bipolar Medications
• Zyprexa (Olanzapine) Pharmacology - Usage, Dosage, Side-Effects
• Comprehensive Information on Antipsychotics
• Why Individuals with Bipolar Disorder Often Do Not Take Their Medications
• Struggling With Bipolar and the Medications Issues
• Just Diagnosed With Bipolar - A Guide
• Symptoms of Bipolar: Mania and Depression
• Bipolar Disorder in Children: How Common Is it?
• Bipolar is a Serious Psychiatric Condition
• How To Survive Bipolar Disorder
• Family-Focused Therapy Helps Bipolar Patients Cope

back to top ~ bipolar news index~ send page to a friend