Winter depression responds to an open trial of tranylcypromine.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a disturbance of mood bearing a fixed relationship to season. Winter depression is characterized by the onset of a depressive syndrome in the fall or winter and spontaneous remission in the spring, this condition responds to full-spectrum, bright artificial light. In the first study assessing responsiveness of winter depression to a standard pharmacologic treatment for depression, the authors found that 14 patients meeting National Institute of Mental Health criteria for winter depression responded to treatment with tranylcypromine.