CBT beats light therapy for SAD maintenance in late winter

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is probably better than light therapy for maintaining gains through late winter.

Here’s the thing: light therapy works great for acute symptoms — bright box in the morning, mood lifts within days. But it’s a temporary patch. Stop using it and the darkness comes back. Late winter is tricky because the days are getting longer, but you’re still a few weeks from spring. Maintenance is about not backsliding.

CBT, on the other hand, teaches you skills: challenging negative thoughts, scheduling pleasant activities, breaking the winter hibernation cycle. A 2020 meta-analysis in JAMA Psychiatry found CBT had better long-term effects than light therapy, and people who learned CBT were less likely to relapse the next winter. For maintenance in late winter — when you’re tired of sitting in front of a lamp and your motivation is low — those skills are gold.

Light therapy is still fine if you’ve been using it all winter and it’s working. But if you’re asking which one to keep going with for the stretch run, CBT is the better bet. It doesn’t require a gadget, and it prepares you for next fall.

If you already did CBT earlier in the season, a booster session or just reviewing the techniques can carry you through.