Seasonal Affective Disorder

SAD is Most Aggressive During 'Dec', 'Jan' & 'Feb'

Cold and flu are common during winter while heat stroke, typhoid and food poisoning are typical of the summer season. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is one type of depression that becomes prominent/restricted depending on the season-summer, winter, spring or autumn.

SAD starts in the late autumn reaching its peak during winter and goes away during spring and summer. SAD is sometimes called as ‘winter depression’ as the symptoms are most severe during December, January and February. But this does not mean that it never occurs during summer, only that they are less common, and this cycle is repeated every year.

Symptoms & Risk Factors
First of all, SAD is not a unique disorder by itself and is only a type of depression that shows seasonal behavior. Any person would be diagnosed with SAD only if he/she meets all criteria for major depression occurring in a specific season for at least two years. One thing is that, seasonal depression is more frequent than non-seasonal depression. Common symptoms of depression include:

1. Feeling depressed on most days, almost every day.
2. Having low energy, difficulty in concentration and always thinking about death or suicide.
3. Loss of interest in every day activities
4. Feeling worthless, guilty and hopeless
5. Sluggishness and agitation
6. Experiencing changes in appetite and weight
   
   

Winter symptoms of SAD include weight gain, overeating, craving for carbohydrates, hypersomnia, reduced energy levels and social withdrawal while summer symptoms of SAD include agitation, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, poor appetite and violent behavior.

Some risk factors of SAD include:

1. Being a female puts you four times at a greater risk of developing SAD.
2. Living far from the equator.
3. Family history of depression puts you at an increased risk of developing SAD.
4. Younger individuals, including teens and children, are at an increased risk of developing SAD.
   
   

The Intriguing Causes of SAD
The occurrence of SAD is closely linked to reduced exposure to sunlight during the shorter autumn and winter days. The logic is that, minimum exposure to sunlight affects the working of the hypothalamus of the brain which can in turn affect:

Melatonin Production: Melatonin is the sleep hormone that regulates your sleep pattern. Winter days are shorter and melatonin production increases, making you lethargic and sleepier.

Serotonin Production: Serotonin is the hormone that affects your mood, appetite and sleep. Certain foods can elevate your mood and make you feel happier. For the complete list of such fruits, please visit the website www.firsteatright.com. Lack of sunlight can lead to lower serotonin levels which can make a person depressed.

Vitamin D Production: Vitamin D is linked to serotonin performance and a decreased production of vitamin D is linked to clinically significant depression symptoms.
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Treatment Options
SAD treatments fall under four main categories:

1. Basic lifestyle modifications: This includes getting more exposure to natural sunlight, exercising regularly and managing stress levels.
2. Light therapy: A special lamp called the ‘light box’ is used to replace for the lost sunshine exposure during winter and fall months by using bright, artificial light.
3. Psychotherapy: Counselling or cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is used to remove negative thoughts from the person’s mind and replace them with positive thoughts.
4. Antidepressant medication might be used sometimes, but these come with their own side effects and must be used only after consulting a physician.