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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Antidepressant may help avert SAD woes

Linda Searing The Washington Post

The question: People who feel fine in the spring and summer but become increasingly depressed as winter sets in often turn to light therapy for relief. Might they prevent this seasonal decline altogether by starting to use an antidepressant in the fall, before their mood changes?

This study randomly assigned 1,042 adults with seasonal affective disorder, who had experienced bouts of seasonal depression for an average of 13 years, to take the antidepressant buproprion (Wellbutrin XL) or a placebo daily from early fall until spring. Participants were told not to use light therapy or to travel to a sunny destination for more than five to seven days. That winter, 84 people taking the drug had symptoms of the disorder, compared with 142 of those taking the placebo (16 percent vs. 28 percent). Side effects, including dry mouth, nausea and increased heart rate and blood pressure, were greater among those taking the antidepressant. People taking the drug lost about two pounds, whereas those in the placebo group gained two pounds.

Who may be affected by these findings? Anyone who has experienced seasonal affective disorder. Among study participants, who were mostly women, nearly 60 percent had never been treated for the disorder.

Caveats: Although all participants had had the disorder previously, 72 percent of those in the placebo group did not have episodes of seasonal depression during the study; this high percentage may have been caused by the increased personal attention everyone in the study received. The study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Wellbutrin XL, and eight of the nine authors were its employees; the other author had received consultant’s fees from the company.

Find this study: Oct. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry; abstract available online at www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps.

Learn more about seasonal affective disorder at www.nami.org and www.clevelandclinic.org/health.