Bright Light Therapy Effective for Nonseasonal Depression

Edited by Anushree Chaphalkar

October 15, 2024

Bright light therapy (BLT) is associated with a 41% remission rate in patients with nonseasonal depressive disorders, significantly higher than the remission rates reported with other treatments, a new meta-analysis shows.

"These findings suggest that BLT was an effective adjunctive treatment for nonseasonal depressive disorders, and the response time to the initial treatment may be improved with the addition of BLT," the study authors wrote.

The study was led by Artur Menegaz de Almeida, MS, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Sinop, Brazil. It was published online on October 2 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Slight differences were observed in the mean follow-up time between the included trials. The definitions for remission rates and response to treatment varied among the included studies, and they also involved different levels of disorder severity. Additionally, the study did not enable the separate analysis of each included depressive disorder, nor bipolar or unipolar subtypes of major depressive disorder. The moderate number of studies included may have affected the generalizability of the findings.

Study funding was not disclosed. No relevant conflicts of interest were disclosed.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.

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