Antidepressants are prescribed by many doctors to treat the symptoms of non-seasonal depression, but there may be an antidepressant alternative that has mood-lifting benefits without the side effects – bright light therapy. bright light therapy has been successfully used to treat seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression triggered by the change in seasons, but it may be helpful for non-seasonal depression as well.

Exposure to bright Light: Does It Help Non-Seasonal Depression?

In a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers gave 89 older adults bright light therapy or a placebo for three weeks. At the end of this three week study where the participants and researchers were blinded to which group received what treatment, the seniors who received the bright light treatment had fewer depressive symptoms and healthier sleep patterns. They also had higher levels of melatonin, a hormone produced by the brain that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. The results were as effective as antidepressant medications for relieving the symptoms of depression in this group of older adults.

How Does bright Light Treatment Help Depression?

It alters levels of the same neurotransmitters that antidepressant target. Exposure to bright light does this by stimulating the portion of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the brain region that controls circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms that are “off” can bring on symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, but non-seasonal depression may respond to bright light exposure too.

these older people who received bright light treatment had objective evidence of improvement in their sleep-wake cycle and stress levels. their levels of melatonin, a hormone that helps to regulate sleep was increased by the bright light exposure, and levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in their saliva dropped. The beneficial effects of bright light therapy persisted even after thir treatments were stopped.

bright Light Treatment for Non-Seasonal Depression: The bottom Line?

Researchers emphasis that longer term studies are needed, but if the results can be replicated, bright light therapy could be a safer alternative to antidepressants for people who suffer from non-seasonal depression.

Medscape.com. “Bright Light Treatment May Improve Nonseasonal Depressive Symptoms”