Efficacy of bright light therapy in perinatal depression: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Sustained remission from perinatal depression after bright light therapy: A pilot randomised, placebo‐controlled trial

“…As a comparison, with the exception of the trial by Bais et al, 5 none of the previous studies on BLT for depression during pregnancy and/or the postpartum succeeded to provide final data from >27 patients. 4 , 14 In this regard, based on our experience, there was no a priori distrust or rejection of BLT as a therapeutic tool per se, which was instead well accepted and tolerated by women, but rather an issue of time compatibility, given that the treatment protocol required participants to sit for half an hour in the morning and for 6 weeks in front of a light box. New possibilities are emerging from portable light therapy devices (visors), that could allow women to have a greater mobility during the treatment sessions.…”

“…None of the previous investigations included a sufficiently extended observation period to assess the long‐term effects of BLT on mood, perhaps assuming that these would vanish once the BLT protocol was terminated. Moreover, in contrast to previous studies, which used placebo lights in a range between 70 and 600 lux, 4 , 5 , 14 we adopted a low‐intensity control light, likely further differentiating the neurobiological effects of the experimental light interventions. There is, in fact, growing evidence showing that humans are, on average, highly sensitive to lower illuminance levels than previously thought (dependent on their prior light exposure history, and individually variable) and that a 50% suppression of melatonin can occur even at <30 lux.…”

“… 14 Surprisingly, despite the short protocol duration and the rather high illuminance level of the control light used, the authors found response rates after treatment, as assessed by the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, of 75% in the BLT versus 18.2% in the placebo group, and remission rates of 41.7% versus 0%, respectively. 14 …”

“…This, in fact, defines PND as the occurrence of a major depressive episode during pregnancy or within 4 weeks after delivery, 12 while most experts even consider any depressive episode beginning up to the first year after childbirth as PND, regardless of the time of onset 13 . According to the DSM‐V criteria, a RCT in 23 women with PND was recently published, in which participants were randomised to either BLT (10'000 lux) or placebo light (<500 lux) for 3 weeks, 45 min in the morning 14 . Surprisingly, despite the short protocol duration and the rather high illuminance level of the control light used, the authors found response rates after treatment, as assessed by the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, of 75% in the BLT versus 18.2% in the placebo group, and remission rates of 41.7% versus 0%, respectively 14 …”

Depressionen in der Schwangerschaft

“…22 Frauen mit Schwangerschafts-oder postpartaler Depression zeigten hingegen einen signifikanten Effekt der Tageslichttherapie gegenüber einer Placebobedingung. Größere Studien mit einer suffizienten Power müssen hier noch folgen, um eine abschließende Beurteilung geben zu können [38,39,40,41].…”