HYPERICUM IN THE TREATMENT OF SEASONAL AFFECTIVE-DISORDERS

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) represents a subgroup of major depression with a regular occurrence of symptoms in autumn/winter and full remission in spring/summer. Light therapy (LT) has become the standard method in the treatment of this type of depression. Apart from this, pharmacotherapy with antidepressants also seems to provide an improvement of SAD symptoms. The aim of this controlled single blind study was to elucidate if hypericum, a plant extract, could be beneficial in treating SAD patients and whether the combination with LT would be additionally advantageous. Patients who fulfilled the DSM-III-R criteria for major depression with seasonal pattern were randomized in a four weeks' treatment with 900 mg hypericum per day combined with either bright (3000 Lux, n = 10) or dim (<300 Lux, n = 10) light condition. Light therapy was applied for two hours daily. We found a significant (MANOVA, p <0.001) reduction of the Hamilton-Depressions-Score in both groups but no significant difference between the two groups. Our data suggest that a pharmacological treatment with hypericum may be an efficient therapy in patients with seasonal affective disorder.