Bright Light Treatment in Psychiatry

Abstract

Bright light treatment is a treatment modality that leads elevation of mood due to attenuation in depressive symptoms, regulation in circadian rhythm activity, increase the effect of antidepressants and amelioration in sleep quality. Bright light treatment is considered among the first-line treatments for seasonal affective disorder because of high response rates. Additionally, bright light treatment being extended to other conditions, including non-seasonal mood disorders, Alzheimer's disease, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral syndromes is likely to have a far reached use. Side effects are often temporary and can generally be overcome by reducing exposure time. The central focus on this paper is to review the action mechanisms, efficacy, usage areas, the ways of administration and side effects of the light treatment. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2017; 9(2.000): 177-188]

Keywords

• Light treatment
• depression
• seasonal depression
• antidepressant effect