J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1993; 5:330-334
Copyright © 1993 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Separation of affective disorder into seasonal and nonseasonal types using motion sickness susceptibility as a marker
CS Mirabile Jr and BC Glueck
Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut 06106.
A sample of 133 candidates for antidepressant or mood-stabilizing
medication treatment, with acute onset or a new phase of illness between
the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, was gathered over a 3-year period from a
private outpatient practice. All patients were diagnosed using DSM-III-R
criteria, rated on a standard motion sickness (MS) questionnaire, and asked
whether they had experienced cardinal symptoms of seasonal affective
disorder (SAD). There was a positive relationship between greater MS and
SAD in the entire patient sample. When a subsample of 23 patients was given
a 2-week trial of phototherapy and rated for improvement, MS-susceptible
patients responded better than MS- resistant patients.
