Is Light Therapy Effective for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that strikes in the winter months when the days are short, cold and darker. One of the remedy for SAD includes phototherapy or light therapy, which requires sitting nearby a light therapy box whose light mimics natural sunlight. A review of studies and meta-analysis conducted by The American Journal of Psychiatry reveals that light therapy for SAD is efficacious in 80% of the cases which is equivalent to most treatments with antidepressants. Also, the benefits of light therapy extend to the improvement of symptoms in non-seasonal depression.

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Sources:

• https://www.care2.com/greenliving/does-light-therapy-really-work-for-sad.html

• https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.4.656