As we approach the winter months, I want to comment on a newly released article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Oct issue regarding the use of morning light therapy as an adjunctive treatment for adult AD/HD. Researchers found that adjunctive light therapy applied for 3 weeks in the fall and winter was associated with a significant decrease in both subjective and objective measures of core ADHD symptoms, improved mood symptoms, and beneficial changes in circadian rhythms (sleep-wake cycles) for adults with AD/HD. The study suggests that a delayed phase sleep problem and/or seasonal mood changes may contribute to or exacerbate core symptoms of AD/HD. Limitations of the study are that it was not a placebo controlled trial, and there were only 37 adults in the trial. Based on this information, one should consider adjunctive light therapy in fall/winter for AD/HD adults who clearly show co-existing symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and/or phase delayed sleep problems.

Last 5 posts by Dr. Theresa Cerulli

• American Heart Association Recommends EKG's - April 27th, 2008
• Prescribing Decisions May Depend on Genetic Tests - April 7th, 2008
• New Guidelines for Mental Health Treatment in Pre-schoolers - March 17th, 2008
• ADHD and Sleep - March 9th, 2008
• Through the Years with ADHD - February 17th, 2008

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 1:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.