The Time for SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder – Approaches

As the nights are drawing in, the risk of new cases of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, increases. Many victims of this winter-related depression are helped by light therapy.  Recently, cognitive behavioral therapy has been used to treat the condition.  Dr Kelley Rohan of the University of Vermont has conducted a head-to-head comparison study, to see which therapy is best.  It’s described in the journal Behavioral Therapy.

Sixty-nine patients with SAD were randomly assigned to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), light therapy, a combination of the two, or a waiting list (control) group.  They were then examined as to how they were doing the next winter, one year later.

Seventeen patients dropped out or were lost to follow-up.  Among the remainder, winter depression recurred in 36.7% of the light therapy group, 5.5% of the combination group, and 7.0% of the CBT group.    

This study confirms the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy for depression.  It’s now been used by telephone, with satisfactory results.  Clearly, CBT is much more expensive than light therapy.  But the results of this study suggest it may still be more cost-effective in providing an effective treatment.  Further studies will clarify if this is really the case.