Lifestyle modification as intervention for seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review.

Bright light therapy (BLT) and pharmacological therapies currently represent the first line treatments for patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Lifestyle modifications offer a diverse field of additional intervention options. Since it is unclear, if lifestyle modifications are effective in SAD patients, this systematic review aims to synthesize the current evidence on their effectiveness and safety.

Prescriptions of psychopharmacologic drugs in Austria in 2019 and 2020 - Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Measures to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have an impact on the mental health of the general population. Drug prescription rates can be used as a surrogate marker to estimate help seeking and health parameters of a population. The aim of this study was to compare psychopharmacologic drug prescriptions in Austria from the start of the pandemic in 2020 over time and with the previous year and to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.

Urological adverse drug reactions of psychotropic medication in psychiatric inpatients - A drug surveillance report from German-speaking countries.

Urological adverse drug reactions (UADR) are common during treatment with psychotropic medication. The aim of this study was to provide a systematic description of the differential profile of UADR of psychotropic drugs in a large naturalistic population. Data stems from psychiatric hospitals collected by AMSP (Arzneimittelsicherheit in der Psychiatrie), a continuous multi-center pharmacovigilance program in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

The Efficacy of Light Therapy in the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Bright light therapy (BLT) has been used as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) for over 30 years. This meta-analysis was aimed to assess the efficacy of BLT in the treatment of SAD in adults.

Method: We performed a systematic literature search including randomized, single- or double-blind clinical trials investigating BLT (≥1,000 lx, light box or light visor) against dim light (≤400 lx) or sham/low-density negative ion generators as placebo.

Alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians.

Background: Alcohol is one of the leading exogenous causes for adverse health consequences in Europe. The aim of the present study was to examine the pattern of alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians.

Methods: A telephone survey was conducted in 400 office-based physicians in Austria.

Changes over time of the diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of patients of a psychiatric intensive care unit in Austria.

Objective: The aim of this repeated cross-sectional study was to compare patients from a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) over ≫30 years regarding their diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics.

Method: Three samples including 100 consecutive inpatients each from the Viennese PICU were submitted to a chart review: sample no. 1 from the years 1985/86, no.

Seasonality of antidepressant prescriptions and sick leaves.

The aim of the present study was to estimate the number of patients with a seasonal prescription pattern of antidepressants, which might be taken as a surrogate marker for medicated patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Furthermore, we examined the time course of sick leaves for patients with seasonal and non-seasonal prescriptions of antidepressants. A retrospective analysis of prescription data of all patients insured by the Sickness Fund Burgenland (BGKK) between 2005 and 2016 was performed.

Implementing prevention of seasonal affective disorder from patients' and physicians' perspectives - a qualitative study.

Background: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a seasonally recurrent type of major depression that has detrimental effects on patients' lives during winter. Little is known about how it affects patients during summer and about patients' and physicians' perspectives on preventive SAD treatment. The aim of our study was to explore how SAD patients experience summers, what type of preventive treatment patients implement, which preventive treatment methods, if any, physicians recommend, and what factors facilitate or hinder implementation/recommendation of SAD prevention.

Usage of Therapeutic Sleep Deprivation: A Survey in Psychiatric Hospitals in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

: Therapeutic sleep deprivation (SD) is a nonpharmacological treatment that is used most often for depression. The aim of this study was to examine the pattern of use of SD in psychiatric hospitals in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. : A questionnaire about perceived usage of SD was sent by mail to all 511 psychiatric hospitals in the three countries.

Actigraphy in patients with treatment-resistant depression undergoing electroconvulsive therapy.

Depressive disorder is frequently accompanied by changes in psychomotor activity and disturbances of the sleep-wake cycle. The chronobiological effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are largely unknown. The objective of the current study was to measure the influence of ECT on patients' activity and sleep.

On the application of light therapy in German-speaking countries.

Many studies have investigated seasonal affective disorder (SAD; fall-winter-depression) and its treatment with light therapy (LT). However, to the best of our knowledge, no other study has investigated the usage of LT in Europe since 1994. Thus, we performed a survey in hospitals with adult psychiatric departments in German-speaking countries by questionnaire.

Actigraphic measurements in opioid detoxification with methadone or buprenorphine.

The objective of the present naturalistic study was to assess the differential effects of opioid detoxification with methadone or buprenorphine on activity, circadian rhythm, and sleep. Forty-two consecutive inpatients with opiate addiction were switched to either methadone or buprenorphine and gradually tapered down over the course of 2 to 3 weeks. There were no significant differences in comedication (lofexidine, quetiapine, and valproic acid) between the methadone and buprenorphine groups.

Bright-light therapy in the treatment of mood disorders.

Bright-light therapy (BLT) is established as the treatment of choice for seasonal affective disorder/winter type (SAD). In the last two decades, the use of BLT has expanded beyond SAD: there is evidence for efficacy in chronic depression, antepartum depression, premenstrual depression, bipolar depression and disturbances of the sleep-wake cycle. Data on the usefulness of BLT in non-seasonal depression are promising; however, further systematic studies are still warranted.

Therapeutic effects of escitalopram and reboxetine in seasonal affective disorder: a pooled analysis.

The monoaminergic neurotransmitters serotonin and noradrenaline have both been implicated in the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). However, the differential therapeutic value of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (NARI) in SAD has not been assessed until now. This study compares data from two open-label trials with similar methodology investigating the SSRI escitalopram and the NARI reboxetine.

Season of birth in siblings of patients with seasonal affective disorder. A test of the parental conception habits hypothesis.

Recently we have published a report on seasonally varying birth rates in 553 patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The present study is aimed to test the hypothesis of an idiosyncratic seasonal conception pattern of the parents of these patients to explain this phenomenon. We conducted a telephone interview with the patients to obtain information on the birth data of their siblings.

Escitalopram in a working population: results from an observational study of 2378 outpatients in Austria.

Objective: The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the effectiveness of escitalopram in a naturalistic sample of employed people with mood and anxiety disorders.

Method: Days on sick leave 3 months prior and 3 months during treatment with escitalopram were recorded and compared (mirror study design) in 2378 patients (949 men and 1376 women). A further clinical examination including the clinical global impression of severity (CGI-S) and improvement (CGI-I) scales and assessments of tolerability were used to evaluate treatment effects in a subgroup of 807 study subjects.

Agomelatine in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder.

Rationale: The novel antidepressant agomelatine acts as a melatonergic (MT(1) and MT(2)) receptor agonist and as a serotonin-2C receptor antagonist. Previous studies showed that agomelatine is able to restore disrupted circadian rhythms, which were implicated in the pathophysiology of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of agomelatine in the treatment of SAD.

Treatment of seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), winter type, is characterized by the regular annual onset of major depressive episodes during fall or winter, followed by spontaneous remission and sometimes hypomanic or manic episodes during spring and summer. SAD is clinically important, since approximately 2-5% of the general population in temperate climates are affected. Since the first description of the syndrome, researchers have made attempts to elucidate the pathophysiological background of SAD.

Validation of a simplified definition of anger attacks.

Background: Anger attacks, sudden spells of anger with vegetative hyperarousal, are highly prevalent symptoms in depression. Assessment normally requires the use of specific instruments. The aim of this study was the validation of a simplified definition for anger attacks.

Actigraphy in patients with seasonal affective disorder and healthy control subjects treated with light therapy.

Background: Abnormalities of the circadian rest-activity cycle are hypothesized to accompany the clinical picture of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The purpose of this study was to investigate if bright light therapy (BLT) is able to reverse these disturbances.

Methods: Seventeen SAD outpatients and 17 sex- and age-matched healthy control subjects were treated with BLT administered in the morning for 4 weeks.

Anger attacks in depression--evidence for a male depressive syndrome.

Background: It has been proposed that aggression and especially anger attacks play an important role in the symptomatology of depression. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that these symptoms are more prevalent in males than in females.

Methods: We conducted a study in 217 depressed patients (104 females, 113 males) without psychiatric comorbidity using questionnaires.

Pharmacotherapy of seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder is a common variant of recurrent major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Treatment with bright artificial light has been found to be effective in this condition. However, for patients who do not respond to light therapy or those who lack compliance, conventional drug treatment with antidepressants also has been proposed.

Anger attacks in seasonal affective disorder.

Previous research has linked aggression especially anger attacks with depression. The objective of the present study was to examine the prevalence and clinical picture of anger attacks in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in comparison to non-seasonal depression. Thirty-six SAD patients and 24 non-seasonally depressed controls were included in this evaluation.