thepsyklife Ever thought to yourself “winters make me so moody and gloomy”? Seasons affecting human mood and how they feel is a real thing. It is okay to feel so until it starts bothering and interfering the daily activities. A lot of people complain of feeling “low” during the colder season – commonly referred to as winter blues and it reduces when the days are longer; around summer time. This is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is commonly experienced during winters, alsocalled as Winter Depression or winter-pattern SAD. Some people also experience depressive episodes during the warmermonths but is less common. This is called summer-pattern SAD or summer depression.
SAD is a type of depression. While it is common to havedepressive moments every now and then during winters, SAD can be diagnosed when there is existing major depression. This is why the symptoms of SAD are those of depression with a few specific symptoms for winter and summer pattern SAD.
Major depression symptoms: –
– Feeling depressed all day
– Losing interest in activities you usually enjoyed
– Change in appetite
– Trouble sleeping
– Feeling lethargic and agitated, usually without a recognizable cause
– Low energy
– Feeling unworthy or hopeless
– Difficulty in concentrating
– Suicidal thoughts
SAD specific symptoms: –
1. Winter Pattern
a. Hypersomnia (oversleeping)
b. Craving carbs – overeating
c. Change in appetite – resulting in weight gain
d. Feeling of hibernation – avoiding social situations
2. Summer Pattern
a. Insomnia – inability to sleep
b. Weight loss due to loss of appetite
c. Restlessness
d. Anxiety
e. Episodes of violent behaviour
SAD is diagnosed when
1. There are underlying symptoms of major depression
2. Depressive episodes only occur during seasons
3. Spans for a period of 4-5 months (season long)
4. Experienced for 2 years consecutively
How do you really know if what you are experiencing is SAD or are you just moody?
Causes of SAD are still very unclear. However, researches have shown people with reduced neurotransmitter activity in releasing serotonin (mood regulating hormone) are at a higher risk of developing SAD. This is also linked to exposure or intake of Vitamin D. Vitamin D increases the serotonin release in the body. Another set of studies show melatonin – the hormone that maintains the sleep-wake cycle and is produced by brain in response to darkness, plays role in SAD where it causes people to oversleep or be insomniac depending on the season.
So, who really is at risk of being diagnosed with SAD?
Psychologically examining, people with bipolar disorder are at an increased risk of developing SAD. Additionally, people with SAD tend to have other mental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an eating disorder, an anxiety disorder, or panic disorder. Apart from psychological reasons, there are also geographical reasons. Studies have shown a link between people residing in locations with hardly any sun exposure and SAD. People living in far north or locations experiencing extreme winters experience SAD more commonly compared to the ones living closer to the equator. SAD is also most commonly diagnosed in females than males. Researches have also showed that SAD is more common among young adulthood than any other age group.
There are multiple ways that SAD can be treated if there are severe cases like: –
– Antidepressant medications (upon consultation with a psychiatrist)
– Vitamin D intake
Studies have proved a significant improvement in mental health for people diagnosed with SAD when they have a daily exposure to sunlight. This can be observed based on the current evidences like sunlight releasing balanced serotonin and causing a melatonin to be produced for maintaining sleep-wake cycle. However, it is important to note that this can only improve the mood levels and sleep and not cure SAD because it is heavily dependant on existence of depression which again needs a psychiatric consultation for treatment and not mere sunlight exposure.
Written by- Rukhsar Rashid
