Dark therapy is a fairly new chronobiological treatment involving exposure to darkness. Preliminary research has shown that this can be effective in treating manic episodes, particularly in sufferers of rapid-cycling Bipolar disorder. Dark therapy is almost converse to the bright light therapy used for certain sleep disorders and depressive illnesses.
Rapid-Cycling Bipolar DisorderBipolar disorders are characterized by extreme mood swings of depression and mania. Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder (RCBP) is a specifier of bipolar disorder, rather than a separate illness. To be diagnosed, four or more episodes of mood swings must occur in a 12-month period.
Rapid-cycling can be very disruptive to a sufferer's life, especially as it can be resistant to treatment such as lithium, a mood stabilizer often used to treat bipolar illnesses. The National Institute for Mental Health theorized that rapid-cycling may be linked to the body clock. Many sufferers of bipolar disorder complain of problems with sleep, and it's notable that sleep deprivation may hasten the onset of mania.
Rapid-Cycling and the Body ClockAccording to the American Psychiatric Association, researchers have been questioning the relationship between mood disorders and circadian rhythms for the last 60 years. These rhythms help the body to keep time, and are synchronized by the body clock. These rhythms may be unstable in sufferers with RCBD and it is thought that darkness may stabilize them.
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), or body clock, is located in the hypothalamus of the brain. The body clock regulates the pineal gland, which is responsible for secreting the sleep hormone melatonin. This hormone is produced in darkness. Light, specifically the blue wavelengths of light, impairs on the production of this hormone.
Dark Therapy ResearchIn 2005, a pilot study was conducted to see if enforced darkness could be helpful to people suffering manic episodes. Sixteen inpatients suffering with mania were treated with dark therapy, as well as their current mood stabilizers. This regimen involved a three-day treatment - 14 hours of darkness per day between 6pm and 8am.The results were compared with a second group of patients (matched for age, sex and similar patterns of illness) who were not treated with dark therapy. The group treated with dark therapy showed significant improvement in mania symptoms, leaving hospital earlier and requiring lower doses of antimanic drugs. Other studies have since followed, showing similar results. More research is required to further explore the effects of dark therapy.
This due to a possible autoimmune disorder where the melanocytes are destroyed. No pigment is the result. It is more noticeable on dark skin. The treatment is UV light therapy, cosmetic creams and even skin grafts.
The Dark Knight Rises... In Therapy - 2012 was released on: USA: 16 July 2012
The cast of The Dark Knight Rises... In Therapy - 2012 includes: Erin Miller Williams as Therapist
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.is estimated to affect 10 million Americans, most of whom are women. Another 25 million Americans may have a mild form of SAD, sometimes called the "winter blues" or "winter blahs." The risk of SAD increases the further from the equator a person lives.
The Dark Age
the dark days of the war
"Tunkele" (טונקעלע) is plural of "dark", as in "dark nights", "tunkele necht".
dark tourism
Dark flat areas on the moons surface
the dark age was a period of warfare and disorder the golden age was a period of order and democracy
By definition, "dark" (look up what that word means!) matter can not be seen.