![]() There is still much to be learned about dark and light therapy, but some psychiatrists are ready to recommend these techniques and blue-blocking glasses. And exposure to light can also help prevent the depressive phase of bipolar disorder, says Francesco Benedetti, a psychiatrist at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan uninvolved in the present study. One study in JAMA Psychiatry in January found that subjecting patients to bright light therapy was as effective at improving (unipolar) depression as the antidepressant fluoxetine, but with fewer side effects. Studies have also shown that light can act as an antidepressant. ![]() But actual darkness is much more difficult to obtain, and more disruptive to life. Other studies have shown that exposing bipolar patients to actual darkness during the nighttime can have similar results one 2005 paper found that putting 16 bipolar patients in darkened rooms for 14 hours per day greatly improved their manic symptoms. The majority of those who responded showed not just small but dramatic improvements. In 2009 study in Chronobiology International, Phelps and a colleague found that 50 percent of 20 bipolar patients experiencing insomnia had significant improvements in sleep after wearing blue-blocking glasses. It seems that several mental disorders are exacerbated by too much light, or an irregular cycle of light and dark, and this includes bipolar disorder. This allows the brain's pineal gland to produce melatonin, an important hormone that helps promote sleep, Phelps explains. Though research on amber-tinted lenses has been limited, it has been shown that by blocking blue light, they trick the brain into thinking that it is dark. There are also connections with areas of the brain controlling the limbic system, involved in mood and emotions. These receptors detect only blue light and communicate with the hypothalamus, where the biological clock lives, explains Phelps. In the last couple decades, scientists discovered an entirely new type of receptor in the eye called intrinsically photo-responsive retinal ganglion cells. The paper builds on a growing body of research showing how important light is for controlling not only circadian rhythms but mood and many other aspects of physical and mental health. It's incredibly important to find new treatments as 20 percent of people with bipolar disorder commit suicide, the highest rate for any mental illness, he adds. James Phelps, a researcher and psychiatrist with Samaritan Health Services in Corvallis, Oregon, who wasn't involved in the study. These are "knock-your-socks off results," says Dr. Even drug treatments aren't typically known to lead to such quick and significant turnarounds, she adds. "I was surprised by the magnitude of changes and the rapid onset of improvement," says study first author Tone Henriksen, a researcher with the University of Bergen and Valen Hospital in Norway. Improvements were noticeable after only three nights of wearing the sunglasses. That's more than twice what doctors consider to be a "clinically significant difference" and is a "remarkably high effect size," according to a commentary accompanying the study, both of which were published in the journal Bipolar Disorders. Those wearing the amber-tinted glasses for only one week scored on average 14 points lower on a test used to measure mania known as the Young Mania Rating Scale. The paper found an enormous difference between the two groups. Meanwhile, no changes were made to the patient's medications. In a small Norwegian study of 23 people hospitalized for bipolar disorder, scientists assigned 12 to wear "blue-blocking" amber glasses for one week, and 11 not to. Scientists have proposed that limiting exposure to blue light given off by electronics at night could help people sleep and help reset dysfunctional biological clocks, both of which are involved in disorders like manic depression. This, in turn, can worsen and increase the risk of developing various mental illnesses. But many modern-day electronic devices like phones, computers and televisions also emit blue light, and being exposed to these after dusk can confuse the body, interrupting sleep. This worked well for our ancestors whose primary source of light was the sun. Likewise, darkness following sundown serves as a cue to sleep. These orange shades block blue light, which the body uses to adjust the biological clock to control sleeping and many other functions.īlue light is a major component of sunlight, and exposure to it in the morning signals that it's time to wake up and also helps reset the body's clock, which is why morning sun is so important for adjusting to jet lag. If you have bipolar disorder, depression or trouble sleeping, it may help to wear amber-tinted glasses at night, new research suggests.
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