The health benefits of light therapy are expanding its use beyond winter depression. Here we explore those promises and pitfalls, including ADHD, PTSD, bipolar depression, binge eating, sleep disorders, dementia, sexual dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, and arthritis.

This first-of-its-kind study looked at lightbox in PTSD with a randomized, placebo-controlled design.

Few natural therapies perform well when stacked head-to-head with medication. Light therapy is an exception. When used correctly, it can treat winter and non-winter depression and augment antidepressants. Learn which lightboxes work, how to use them, and a new light therapy protocol for bipolar depression.

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Since 2011, 3 new antidepressants have been approved by the FDA, and another (ketamine) has been generating buzz as a potential off-label medication for depression. In this article, we’ll take a step back and review the data on vilazodone (Viibryd), levomilnacipran (Fetzima), vortioxetine (Brintellix), and ketamine.

Dr. Bodkin discusses methods for approaching treatment resistant depression and his perspective on depressive illness as a final common pathway for a number of different brain problems.

Many studies have shown that light therapy works for seasonal affective disorder, but does it work for non-seasonal major depression? That’s less clear. Systematic reviews have yielded inconclusive results, in part because prior studies have had methodological weaknesses. A new study with a robust design was just published.

Sunshine and other forms of bright light are considered to be helpful for depressed patients. Patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) feel better as the days lengthen, and bright light therapy is effective for the depression in patients with and without SAD. However, seasonal studies of suicide have found that the prevalence is highest in the spring, which is counterintuitive if we consider light to be an antidepressant.

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In his memoir, A Moveable Feast, the author Ernest Hemingway reflects on the sadness of the winter season:“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery...