JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY, vol.76, no.5, 2015 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: Phototherapy, ie, bright light therapy, is an effective and safe treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). It exerts rapid mood-elevating activity, similar to antidepressant medications, most likely mediated through both monoaminergic and circadian system melatonergic mechanisms. We assessed the efficiency of bright light therapy as an adjuvant treatment to antidepressant pharmacotherapy in patients with severe MDD randomized by Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) score to either (1) 150 mg venlafaxine hydrochloride daily at 7: 00 am or (2) 150 mg venlafaxine plus 60-minute light of 7000 lux the initial week of clinical management (venlafaxine + bright light therapy) daily at 7: 00 am.