New treatment options for seasonal affective disorder, from the Harvard Mental Health Letter
Improvements are necessary for three reasons. First, light therapy doesn’t work for everyone. Studies have reported that 50% to 80% of patients achieve complete relief and that remission may depend upon carefully individualized timing of light exposure. Second, dosing remains a major question. The recommendation for 30 minutes of daily exposure to 10,000 lux is based on average response to white light. Finally, side effects, while mild for many patients, may be more of a concern for others.
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