Light treatment of seasonal affective disorder in Switzerland

Wirz‐Justice, Anna; Bucheli, C.; Graw, Peter; Kielholz, P; Fisch, Hans-Ulrich; Woggon, B

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1986.tb10606.x

Cited by 172 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Early trials used bright FSFL as treatment, often in comparison to dim light controls, either incandescent or FSFL (e.g., Hellekson et al, 1986;Isaacs et al, 1988;Rosenthal et al, 1985;Winton et al, 1989;Wirz-Justice et al, 1986). This was partly because of the belief that onset of the condition related to reduced day length, and the treatment was intended to lengthen the apparent day length.…”

Section: Light Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health

McColl

Veitch

2001

Psychol. Med.

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/npsi/ctrl?lang=en http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/ctrl?lang=fr Access and use of this website and the material on it are subject to the Terms and Conditions set forth at http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/jsp/nparc_cp.jsp?lang=en NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRCThis publication could be one of several versions: author's original, accepted manuscript or the publisher's version. / La version de cette publication peut être l'une des suivantes : la version prépublication de l'auteur, la version acceptée du manuscrit ou la version de l'éditeur. For the publisher's version, please access the DOI link below./ Pour consulter la version de l'éditeur, utilisez le lien DOI ci-dessous.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S003329170105425Psychological Medicine, 31, 6, pp. 949-964, 2001-08-01 Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health McColl, S. L.; Veitch, J. A. ABSTRACTBackground. Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting (FSFL) has been credited with causing dramatic beneficial effects on a wide variety of behaviours, mental health outcomes, and physical health effects, as compared to other fluorescent lamp types. These effects are hypothesized to occur because of similarity between FSFL emissions and daylight, which is said to have evolutionary superiority over other light sources.Method. This review, covering the period 1941-1999, critically considers the evidence for direct effects of FSFL through skin absorption as well as indirect effects on hormonal and neural processes.Conclusions . Overall, the evidence does not show dramatic effects of fluorescent lamp type on behaviour or health, nor does it support the evolutionary hypothesis.

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Section: Light Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health

McColl

Veitch

2001

Psychol. Med.

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“…The Chronobiology Laboratory o f the Psychiatric University Clinic has been carrying out studies on S A D and light therapy since 1984 [6][7][8][9]. In order to follow the course o f winter depressive phases subsequent to diagnosis o f S A D and participation in a controlled light therapy trial, all these SA D patients (n = 70) received a letter in the summer o f 1989 inviting them to an interview with a psychia trist (B .G.).…”

Section: Subjects and M Eth Od Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Follow-Up Study of Seasonal Affective Disorder in Switzerland

Graw¹,

Gisin²,

Wirz‐Justice³

1997

Psychopathology

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Of 39 diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) patients who were interviewed 2–5 years after participation in a light therapy trial, 10 continued to have recurrent major depressive episodes in winter, and 17 manifested sub-syndromal SAD (2 patients also had recurrent brief depression, seasonal type). 8 patients had recovered, and 4 had shifted in symptomatology. Thus, over a number of years, the clinical diagnosis changed for the better in 64% of the patients, suggesting that SAD is not a prodromal form of a more chronic major affective disorder, and that light therapy (and perhaps also light-oriented behaviour) reduced the incidence and depth of subsequent depressive episodes. Further evidence for this was the large reduction in use of conventional antide-pressant drugs (from 17 to 1) during the follow-up period. Diagnosis of SAD was stable and reliable.

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“…Different authors reported that SAD patients have a high family load (44-67%) for psychiatric disorders in firstdegree relatives [5][6][7][8]. Allen et al [9] found an equal positive (65%) family prevalence for psychiatric diseases in SAD patients, compared to a control group, consisting of patients with affective disorders without seasonality (59%).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of Family History in Seasonal Affective Disorder

Stamenkovic

Aschauer²,

Riederer³

et al. 2001

Neuropsychobiology

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Objective: In our investigation we assessed the risk of morbidity for psychiatric disorders among the first-degree relatives of patients with seasonal affective disorders (SAD) and compared it with a control group of patients suffering from nonseasonal mood disorders (NSMD). Methods: Over a period of 12 months (June 1994 to May 1995) we recruited patients consecutively admitted to our psychiatric university outpatient clinic in a prospective study. All patients were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised 4th edition. A total of 344 patients presented themselves with a diagnosis of affective disorder. Out of these, 36 were diagnosed as having SAD. From the same group of 344 patients, we selected a matched control group of 36 patients suffering from NSMD. The experimental and control groups were matched according to sex, age, severity of illness and number of siblings. Results: There was no significant difference concerning the lifetime prevalences for psychiatric disorders among the fist-degree relatives in both groups (SAD = 16.5% and NSMD = 19%). Conclusion: It seems that there is no difference in familiarity for psychiatric disorders between SAD and NSMD.

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Light treatment of seasonal affective disorder in Switzerland

Cited by 172 publications

References 15 publications

Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health

Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health

Follow-Up Study of Seasonal Affective Disorder in Switzerland

Study of Family History in Seasonal Affective Disorder

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