Chronotherapy (treatment scheduling)
Chronotherapy, also called chronotherapeutics or chronotherapeutic drug delivery, refers to the use of circadian or other rhythmic cycles of a condition's symptoms and/or of the individual being treated in the application of therapy. Examples of this are treatments of psychiatric and somatic diseases that are administered according to a schedule that corresponds to these rhythms in order to maximize effectiveness and minimize side effects of the therapy.
In the treatment of psychiatric conditions including bipolar depression, a form of chronotherapy combining intermittent sleep deprivation and morning bright light has shown efficacy and relative tolerability in a number of controlled studies.
