Psych CASC / OSCE · General adult psychiatry — mood disorders
Explain winter depression, light therapy and autumn prevention — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style communication station: explain seasonal pattern MDD, light therapy parameters and side-effects, Can-SAD framing, suicide safety-netting, and anticipatory bupropion XL prevention.
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Target exams
Station brief
Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes after reading. You are the psychiatry registrar in outpatient clinic. [4]
Candidate instructions. Explain the diagnosis of winter-pattern major depression in plain language, outline safe morning light therapy, compare light with an SSRI using trial evidence at lay level, discuss autumn preventive bupropion if appropriate, safety-net for worsening mood or elevated mood, and check understanding. The examiner plays the patient. [4]
References4ShowHide
- [1]Lam RW, Levitt AJ, Levitan RD, et al. The Can-SAD study: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of light therapy and fluoxetine in patients with winter seasonal affective disorder Am J Psychiatry, 2006.PMID 16648320
- [2]Modell JG, Rosenthal NE, Harriett AE, et al. Seasonal affective disorder and its prevention by anticipatory treatment with bupropion XL Biol Psychiatry, 2005.PMID 16271314
- [3]Golden RN, Gaynes BN, Ekstrom RD, et al. The efficacy of light therapy in the treatment of mood disorders: a review and meta-analysis of the evidence Am J Psychiatry, 2005.PMID 15800134
- [4]Malhi GS, Bell E, Bassett D, et al. The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2021.PMID 33353391