Ramelteon in the Treatment of Sleep and Mood in Patients With Seasonal Affective Disorder
Ramelteon in the Treatment of Sleep and Mood in Patients With Seasonal Affective Disorder
The purpose of this study is to determine whether treating sleep difficulties in patients
 with seasonal affective disorder also improves their depressive symptoms.
Seasonal affective disorder(SAD) is a type of depression in which a patient's depressive
 symptoms worsen in the winter. These patients' depressive symptoms often lessen in the spring
 and summer months. Much of the focus of the treatment of SAD (light therapy and melatonin)
 has involved the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus(SCN), as it is hypothesized that one
 potential reason for SAD is a desynchronized SCN. Ramelteon offers a new and more
 pharmacologically exact mechanism to re-synchronize the SCN. The administration of ramelteon
 for this patient population may improve sleep, and in addition, do so in a manner that may
 also reduce their seasonal affective depressive symptoms. Patients eligible for enrollment
 will be administered either ramelteon or placebo and return to the study office for 4 monthly
 visits over the winter months, to evaluate the effects of ramelteon versus placebo on sleep
 and mood.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Male or female age 18-65 yrs.

 -  A diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder

 -  A Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index >5

 -  English speaking

 -  Be able to sign informed consent

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Active substance abuse

 -  Current psychotic symptoms

 -  Severe personality disorders

 -  Primary sleep disorders

 -  Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

 -  Prescription fluvoxamine(Luvox) use