Am J Psychiatry 1994; 151:1383-1385
Copyright © 1994 by American Psychiatric Association
Early-morning administration of short-acting beta blockers for treatment of winter depression
DS Schlager
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, School of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Propranolol, 60 mg or less, was administered daily between 5:30 and 6:00
a.m. to 33 patients with winter depression. After open treatment with a
mean dose of 33 mg/day, 24 patients (73%) met the remission criteria; 23
completed double-blind continuation or placebo substitution. Subjects who
continued to receive propranolol had a mean increase in Hamilton depression
score of 3.5, whereas patients switched to placebo had an increase of 11.2;
the difference was statistically significant. These findings are consistent
with the hypothesis that duration of nocturnal melatonin secretion is the
critical seasonal time cue in humans.
