Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:753-757
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Eye versus skin phototherapy of seasonal affective disorder
TA Wehr, RG Skwerer, FM Jacobsen, DA Sack and NE Rosenthal
In winter, depressed patients with seasonal affective disorder respond to
treatment with bright artificial light (phototherapy). The authors found
that the antidepressant effects of phototherapy were much greater for 10
patients when light was applied to the eyes than when it was applied to the
skin, suggesting that its effects may be mediated by the eyes. The
identification of a probable anatomical route of entry is clinically
relevant and an important clue for further investigations of the mechanism
of phototherapy. However, patients' expectations nearly always predicted
the outcome, leaving open the possibility that expectations were
responsible for their responses.
