Winter Depression Recurrence One Year After Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Light Therapy, or Combination Treatment

Biological and Psychological Mechanisms of Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Review and Integration

“…To target the psychological mechanisms, preliminary studies suggest that a version of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), modified for SAD, is comparable in efficacy to light therapy as an acute SAD treatment [76,77], and is associated with a lower proportion of SAD recurrences in the next winter relative to initial treatment with light therapy [78]. Therefore, effective SAD treatment options are available.…”

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for seasonal affective disorder: A pilot study

“…Second, 70% of patients have a recurrence of depression in subsequent autumn and winter seasons (Thompson and Isaacs, 1988). One challenge is, thus, to develop interventions with enduring effects in the prevention of SAD recurrence (Rohan et al, 2009). From research in the field of non-seasonal major depressive disorder (MDD) we know that Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; (Segal et al, 2002)) is particularly effective in the prevention of recurrence in patients with recurrent MDD in remission (Piet and Hougaard, 2011).…”

Pathogenesis and management of seasonal affective disorder

“…Of most relevance would be cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for which there is a large evidence base for its use in other mood disorders. Preliminar y data by Rohan et al 50,51 suggest that a tailored course of CBT is as efficacious as light therapy in the acute phase and better at preventing relapse; 52 however, there is a clear need for further study.…”