Abstract
Background: Bright artificial light improves non-seasonal depression. Preliminary observations suggest that sunlight could share this effect. Methods: Length of hospitalization was recorded for a sample of 415 unipolar and 187 bipolar depressed inpatients, assigned to rooms with eastern (E) or western (W) windows. Results: Bipolar inpatients in E rooms (exposed to direct sunlight in the morning) had a mean 3.67-day shorter hospital stay than patients in W rooms. No effect was found in unipolar inpatients. Conclusions: Natural sunlight can be an underestimated and uncontrolled light therapy for bipolar depression. Limitations: This is a naturalistic retrospective observation, which needs to be confirmed by prospective studies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 221-223 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Journal of Affective Disorders |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2001 |
Keywords
- Bipolar depression
- Hospitalization
- Sunlight
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Biological Psychiatry
- Neurology
- Psychology(all)