Dark therapy is an experimental treatment which involves eliminating all light in the subject's environment, for a period of six to sixteen hours per day, in combination with a regular sleep schedule. Dark therapy manipulates circadian rhythms acting on hormones and neurotransmitters. It has been proposed recently (2005) to combine the chronobiological manipulations of light/dark and/or sleep/wake therapies with psychopharmacological medication. In the words of Anna Wirz-Justice:
Light therapy has undergone widespread controlled randomized clinical trials, and wake therapy has been so widely studied over decades that the efficacy data are strong. These nonpharmaceutical, biologically based therapies are not only powerful adjuvants, but also antidepressants in their own right... ilot studies suggest that the simple measure of promoting long nights (more rest, more sleep, no light) can stop rapid cycling in bipolar patients, or diminish manic symptoms — intriguing findings that require replication. (page 223, 226)
Read more about Dark Therapy: Clinical Pharmacology, Bipolar Disorder Treatment, Other Conditions, Virtual Darkness, Side Effects, Treatment Constraints
Famous quotes containing the words dark and/or therapy:
“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”
—Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918)
“Show business is the best possible therapy for remorse.”
—Anita Loos (1888–1981)