Circadian Reinforcement Therapy in Combination With Electronic Self-Monitoring to Facilitate a Safe Postdischarge Period for Patients With Major Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Patients with major depression exhibit circadian disturbance of sleep and mood, and when they are discharged from inpatient wards, this disturbance poses a risk of relapse. We developed a circadian reinforcement therapy (CRT) intervention to facilitate the transition from the inpatient ward to the home for these patients. CRT focuses on increasing the zeitgeber strength for the circadian clock through social contact, physical activity, diet, daylight exposure, and sleep timing.

Dynamic LED light versus static LED light for depressed inpatients: results from a randomized feasibility trial.

Background: Retrospective studies conducted in psychiatric wards have indicated a shorter duration of stay for depressed inpatients in bright compared to dim daylight-exposed rooms, pointing to a possible antidepressant effect of daylight conditions. Dynamic LED lighting, aiming to mimic daylight conditions, are currently been installed in several hospitals, but their feasibility is poorly investigated.

Methods: To investigate the feasibility of these systems, we developed and installed a LED-lighting system in four rooms in a psychiatric inpatient ward.

[Psychiatry and circadian rhythms].

Circadian and seasonal rhythm disturbances are prominent in patients with psychiatric disorders. Properly timed and dosed light of specific spectral composition stabilises mood and sleep through serotonergic mechanisms and through input to the master circadian clock in the hypothalamus. Correctly administered, light can be used as an effective treatment for seasonal and non-seasonal depression and for stabilising the sleep-wake cycle.

Depressed Patients Hospitalized in Southeast-Facing Rooms Are Discharged Earlier than Patients in Northwest-Facing Rooms.

Background And Aim: Improvement in patients admitted to inpatient wards with severe depression is slow, and such patients are often discharged with residual symptoms which put them at risk for relapse. New treatments that can speed up recovery are highly desired. This naturalistic follow-up study in a specialized affective disorders unit investigated the impact of daylight on the length of hospital stay and improvement of depression.

Usability, Acceptability, and Adherence to an Electronic Self-Monitoring System in Patients With Major Depression Discharged From Inpatient Wards.

Background: Patients suffering from depression have a high risk of relapse and readmission in the weeks following discharge from inpatient wards. Electronic self-monitoring systems that offer patient-communication features are now available to offer daily support to patients, but the usability, acceptability, and adherence to these systems has only been sparsely investigated.

Objective: We aim to test the usability, acceptability, adherence, and clinical outcome of a newly developed computer-based electronic self-assessment system (the Daybuilder system) in patients suffering from depression, in the period from discharge until commencing outpatient treatment in the Intensive Outpatient Unit for Affective Disorders.