TY - JOUR
T1 - Dark therapy for mania
T2 - A pilot study
AU - Barbini, Barbara
AU - Benedetti, Francesco
AU - Colombo, Cristina
AU - Dotoli, Danilo
AU - Bernasconi, Alessandro
AU - Cigala-Fulgosi, Mara
AU - Florita, Marcello
AU - Smeraldi, Enrico
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - Background: Recent findings suggest that extended bed rest and darkness could stabilize mood swings in rapid cycling bipolar patients. Method: We exposed 16 bipolar inpatients affected by a manic episode to a regimen of 14 h of enforced darkness from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. each night for three consecutive days [dark therapy (DT)]. Pattern of mood changes were recorded with the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and compared with a control group of 16 inpatients matched for age, sex, age at onset, number of previous illness episodes and duration of current episode, and were treated with therapy as usual (TAU). Results: Adding DT to TAU resulted in a significantly faster decrease of YMRS scores when patients were treated within 2 weeks from the onset of the current manic episode. When duration of current episode was longer, DT had no effect. Follow-up confirmed that good responders needed a lower dose of antimanic drugs and were discharged earlier from the hospital. Conclusions: Chronobiological interventions and control of environmental stimuli can be a useful add-on for the treatment of acute mania in a hospital setting.
AB - Background: Recent findings suggest that extended bed rest and darkness could stabilize mood swings in rapid cycling bipolar patients. Method: We exposed 16 bipolar inpatients affected by a manic episode to a regimen of 14 h of enforced darkness from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. each night for three consecutive days [dark therapy (DT)]. Pattern of mood changes were recorded with the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and compared with a control group of 16 inpatients matched for age, sex, age at onset, number of previous illness episodes and duration of current episode, and were treated with therapy as usual (TAU). Results: Adding DT to TAU resulted in a significantly faster decrease of YMRS scores when patients were treated within 2 weeks from the onset of the current manic episode. When duration of current episode was longer, DT had no effect. Follow-up confirmed that good responders needed a lower dose of antimanic drugs and were discharged earlier from the hospital. Conclusions: Chronobiological interventions and control of environmental stimuli can be a useful add-on for the treatment of acute mania in a hospital setting.
KW - Bipolar disorder
KW - Dark therapy
KW - Mania
KW - Sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=13644258664&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=13644258664&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2004.00166.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2004.00166.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 15654938
AN - SCOPUS:13644258664
VL - 7
SP - 98
EP - 101
JO - Bipolar Disorders
JF - Bipolar Disorders
SN - 1398-5647
IS - 1
ER -