Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Case Study

The different stages of Seasonal Affective Disorder can be treated at home or by psychiatrists. Medications like antidepressants can be used to help reverse the feelings of depression. Bupropion is the most commonly used antidepressant to treat the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (Mayo Clinic. 2014). Light intensity treatment methods can be used with more extreme cases of SAD, and mostly for Seasonal Affective Disorder that occurs in the winter, with colder and darker months. The light therapy, also called Phototherapy, where one sits in front of a bright light, which is used to mimic the effects of the sun outside. The light causes chemicals in the brain, like Serotonin and Melatonin, to boost and improves one’s mood making the depressive …show more content…
A total of 332 patients were studied over the course of five years. It was found that when exposed to 2500-lux light intensity at least two hours a day, daily for a week resulted in significantly more remissions. When exposed to the light intensity in the morning there was a 50% reduction in Hamilton's Depression Rating Scale, for those patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder, but there was no difference in multiple times a day, for example in the morning and in the evening (Terman, Terman, Quitkin, McGrath, Stewart, Rafferty. 1989). 2500-lux light intensity is the same amount light intensity that occurs when a person is outside with exposure to the sun during sunrise. An experiment is able to be used with different amounts of light intensity because it is not unethical to test humans in this experiment, since there is no harm, but rather testing which group is more beneficial. Also within this experiment, the various sexes were also studied, with findings that females are more affected by this mood disorder than males are. Results of this investigation provides insight on the benefits of light therapy and whether or not light therapy actually works and benefits the patient, which shows positive