A reader asks:

I am getting fairly good results with a light box, but because of complicating factors, not as good as I would like. I am considering going back on medication. Will I need to decrease my light dose as the medication becomes effective?

Answer:

More likely, you will respond to a lower drug dose, because light has had a partial positive effect. It is always complicated adding one treatment on top of another — it can get almost impossible to know what is causing what. You need to convince your doctor that light therapy is an active, somatic treatment and should be conceived of as an adjunct “drug” when combined with pharmacological agents. In other words, both light and drug dose may have to be titrated in concert. Not to worry excessively about this, though, if you experience no side effects (including hypomania).