Circadian Light Therapy Helps Bipolar Patients In Scandinavia

Scandinavian countries have greater acceptance of circadian light therapy for psychological disorders. A hospital in Norway, Valen Hospital, has incorporated circadian light therapy into the emergency treatment of bipolar patients with positive results. Chromaviso is a Danish manufacturer of circadian lighting and light therapy luminaires. The Valen Hospital results have been peer-reviewed and published in Bipolar Disorders and The Journal of Sleep Research, among others.

Valen Hospital reports:

• Blocking the blue wavelengths of light in the evening and at night reduces patients’ manic symptoms and improves their sleep. This is accomplished using blue-blocking glasses.
• The hospital developed a light therapy room in the psychiatric emergency department to treat depressed patients.
• Light therapy has benefits for all types of depression, including bipolar depression.
• The integrated light therapy lamp can be controlled in terms of color temperature and intensity for the individual patient. It was commissioned in March 2019.
• The light therapy room is used daily by patients as an alternative or supplement to medication for all depressed patients.
• Research shows that light therapy alone can be as effective as medication alone. If the two are combined, a double effect is achieved.
• A shorter hospital stay for those patients who use the light therapy room, typically hospitalized for 1-2 fewer days, out of the average hospital stay of 7-8 days.
• The lighting treatment also helps patients who are experiencing poor circadian rhythm, such as sleeping too long or too late.
• In the manic phase, patients need fewer lighting hours and more darkness, while patients in the depressive phase need more lighting for a longer period of time.
• The doctor or psychologist prescribes which lighting protocol the individual patient should have.

The International Society for Bipolar Disorders, ISBD, has subsequently developed an international recommendation to include lighting as part of the treatment of bipolar patients.

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David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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