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Thomas A. Wehr, MD
Norman E. Rosenthal, MD National Institutes of Health 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20205

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1989;46(2):194-195.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

Dr Mueller raises several points: 1. Dr Mueller correctly notes that his name was omitted from a citation in our letter. He was in fact a coauthor in our first systematic study of phototherapy, and his initial pilot study was described in the "Methods" section of our report.

While current interest in seasonal affective disorder and its treatment may appear novel to all of us, these observations are really not totally new. Seasonal affective disorder was described over 2000 years ago by Hippocrates¹ (460-370 bc) and subsequently by many others. For example, Posidonius² (fourth century AD) observed that mania is "an intermittent disease which proceeds through a periodical circuit... it repeats itself once a year or more often... melancholy occurs in autumn, whereas mania in summer."

Even phototherapy of depression is not new. Greco-Roman physicians of the "Solidist" school treated depression and lethargy with light. Aretaeus³ . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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