Bright light therapy as a method of supportive treatment of depression in pregnancy, puerperium and other selected psychiatric diseases

Gdańska Paulina, Kiersnowska Iwona, Baranowska Joanna, Kotomska Marta, Węgrzyn Piotr. Bright light therapy as a method of supportive treatment of depression in pregnancy, puerperium and other selected psychiatric diseases. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(5):304-309. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3157429 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6928 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2019; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 28.04.2019. Revised: 28.04.2019. Accepted: 22.05.2019. Bright light therapy as a method of supportive treatment of depression in pregnancy, puerperium and other selected psychiatric diseases Paulina Gdańska1, Iwona Kiersnowska1, Joanna Baranowska2, Marta Kotomska3, Piotr Węgrzyn1 1 Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland 2 Midwifery student, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University Of Warsaw, Poland 3 Department of Basics of Nursing, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Abstract: The paper presents the role of phototherapy in treatment of depression in pregnancy, puerperium and other selected psychiatric diseases. Bright light therapy can be used as an independent form of treatment or as a method supplementing pharmacotherapy. The treatment is based on the use of light that mimics natural sunlight during light therapy sessions. Phototherapy is an optimal solution when treating depressive moods, especially seasonal depression associated with deficiency of sunlight. In the autumn-winter season the production of serotonin responsible for the proper functioning of the nervous system and general well-being, is physiologically reduced. Therefore, the use of light seems to be a reasonable treatment for depressive moods. Light therapy was also adopted in the treatment of schizophrenia, post-stroke depression and eating disorders. This method is characterized by high safety profile, a small number of mild side effects and a simple treatment scheme. In view of the above, it is a convenient method to be used in clinical conditions. Keywords: Light therapy , Phototherapy, Depression, Perinatal depressio