Psychiatria pre prax 5/2009

Phototherapy in geriatric psychiatry

There has been enough information on the influence of daily illumination on human mind for a long time. First scientific publications on the effect of bright light therapy were published in the early eighties of the 20th century. After an epoch of empirical use of the fototherapy obtained a theoretical background with the finding of function of melatonin on the human mind. At this time phototherapy is therapeutical method used in the seasonal affective disorder and in the other disorders. It has not yet been applied in older patients with organic affective disorder frequently. In the presented paper the authors submits their positive experiences with bright light therapy in geriatric psychiatry on a cohort of patients of their own.

Keywords: phototherapy, seasonal affective disorder, organic depressive disorder