Posted by jrbecker on December 18, 2003, at 11:24:12
In reply to Re: SAD lightboxes » jrbecker, posted by SLS on December 17, 2003, at 15:15:31
> Hi JB.
>
> Thanks for regularly posting such wonderful information.
>
> What is your diagnosis (if that's not too personal a question)? Has your illness demonstrated any seasonality? How would light therapy work when treating bipolar or unipolar depression in the absence of seasonality?
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> - ScottHi Scott-
I've been diagnosed as an atypical depressive. Although I don't really exhibit hypomanic symptoms, my mood definitely fluctuates. Off meds, I can sometimes become irritable and dysphoric -- a symptom many experts believe is a sign of soft bipolarity.
Yes, there is definitely a seasonality to my mood. I am often less depressed in the warmer, sunnier months, however, I can also sometimes experience more anxiety during this period as well.
As for treating a unipolar or a bipolar who does NOT exhibit seasonality, with light therapy...well my guess is that those individuals will not respond as well to this form of therapy as those depressives that exhibit SAD symptoms to begin with. As a couple of the follow-up posters mentioned, light therapy doesn't work for everyone. In fact, a small minority of us have responded negatively to light therapy. My guess is that light therapy might exacerbate bipolar symptoms (the research has found that light therapy can induce hypomania in some or add to anxiety or sense of dysphoria). However, this has never been the case with me.
Light therapy seems to be benign enough for everyone to give it a shot if they exhbit seasonality to their depression. Many report that it only moderately helps their symptoms. But in most cases, the extra boost is well worth it.
poster:jrbecker
thread:290947
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031213/msgs/291287.html