Bright light therapy for bipolar depression (Interview with Dorothy Sit, MD)

In this interview with Simple and Practical Mental Health conducted in December 2017, Dr. Dorothy Sit gives valuable clinical tips about the use of bright light therapy for persons with bipolar depression.

Dr. Sit is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She was the first author of an important randomized, controlled clinical trial of bright light therapy for bipolar disorder that was published in 2017. You can see her brief bio HERE.

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Part one

6 minutes

– Overview of the study design (placebo, titration, use of a mood stabilizer)

– Main results of the study (response rate, switching to mania or hypomania)

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Part two

4 1/2 minutes

Important details about how to do bright light therapy for bipolar depression

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Part three

3 1/2 minutes

For seasonal depression or also for non-seasonal depression?

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Part four

2 1/2 minutes

What intensity of light should be used?

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Members only: Make sure to see our summary of tips on how exactly to use bright light therapy for bipolar depression.

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Related Pages

How exactly to use bright light therapy for bipolar depression

Bright light therapy: What kinds of devices/lamps to recommend

Three bright light therapy devices I recommend to my patients

Bright light therapy: Instructions to patients

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? 

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References

Sit DK, McGowan J, Wiltrout C, Diler RS, Dills JJ, Luther J, Yang A, Ciolino JD, Seltman H, Wisniewski SR, Terman M, Wisner KL. Adjunctive Bright Light Therapy for Bipolar Depression: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial. Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Oct 3:appiajp201716101200. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28969438.

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