Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2010, 154(4):355-361 | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2010.053

AUGMENTATION OF ANTIDEPRESSANTS WITH BRIGHT LIGHT THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH COMORBID DEPRESSION AND BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Jan Prasko^*a,b,c,d, Martin Brunovsky^c,d, Klara Latalova^a,b, Ales Grambal^a,b, Michal Raszka^*c,d, Jana Vyskocilova^c, Lucie Zavesicka^c,d

^a Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Olomouc, I. P. Pavlova 6, 775 20 Olomouc, Czech Republic

^b Psychiatry Clinic, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc

^c Prague Psychiatric Centre, Ustavni 91, Prague 8

^d Centre of Neuropsychiatric Studies, Ustavni 91, Prague 8

Backround. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is typically characterized by instability and impairmed behaviour, affectivity, interpersonal relations and lifestyle. The most common condition comorbid with BPD is a depressive episode. Depression is associated with severe disturbance of the circadian rhythms. This is apparent in depressive patients with BPD. Both sleep and diurnal rhythms are disturbed and the symptoms fluctuate. Bright light may be an effective in treatment of seasonal affective disorder, circadian sleep disorder and jet lag. It also improves sleep-wake patterns and behavioural disorders in hospitalized patients with Alzheimer's disease. Several studies have suggested antidepressant effects of phototherapy in non-seasonal depressive episodes. The treatment of comorbid depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) is usually reported to be less successful than the treatment of patients without personality disorder. Studies describing the use of bright light in depressed patients with comorbid BPD have not been published so far.

Method: The aim of this open study was to assess the effectiveness of a 6-week combined therapy with the application of bright light (10,000 lux, 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. for 6 weeks) added to SSRIs in drug-resistant depressed patients with comorbid BPD who did not respond with improvement to 6-week administration of antidepressants. The study comprised 13 female patients who met the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for research and the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for major depression. The participants were regularly evaluated using the CGI, HAMD and MADRS scales and the BDI and BDI self-report inventories.

Results: According to all the assessment instruments, the application of bright white light leads to a significant improvement. However, the results must be interpreted with caution due to the open nature of the study.

Keywords: Bright light therapy, Non-seasonal depressive disorder, Depressive episode, Resistance to therapy, Borderline personality disorder, Comorbidity, Open study

Received: March 15, 2010; Accepted: April 16, 2010; Published: December 1, 2010  Show citation