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SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER (SAD)

© Colleen Sullivan

During the Summer months Janet is full of energy and vitality. Besides her job as an administrative assistant she is busy planting and tending her garden, planning and preparing for weekend outings with her family, socializing and meeting friends for lunch, and still finding time for the extras like reading a great book, painting her fingernails and knitting a sweater as a gift for a friend. As the Summer comes to an end and the daylight hours become shorter and more dreart Janet undergoes a visible change. Her energy slumps, her mood drops, and most of the time she can be found lying on the couch, exhausted. Janet has SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder.

WHAT IS SAD?

SAD is a mental disorder characterized by annual slumps into depression as the days shorten at the same time every year, most often beginning in October or November and lasting until March or April. Untreated SAD is often worst during the months of December to February.

IS SAD A COMMON DISORDER?

According to reports from the NIMH approximately ten million Americans have SAD. The incidence is higher in the Northern latitudes. In the northernmost states it occurs in nearly 10% of the population while in southern states the incidence is closer to 1.4%. Women who began having seasonal depressions in their twenties are most often affected.

WHAT CAUSES SAD?

The exact cause of SAD is under debate but most researchers agree that it is caused by alterations in brain chemistry, including seasonal variations in the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin. In the Winter Northern locations often get only eight hours of daylight as opposed to sixteen hours at the peak of Summer. Some individuals may be especially sensitive to this change. For more information about SAD, an excellent web page to visit is S.A.D. LIGHT. An informative easy to navigate web site you are sure to enjoy.

WHAT DOES SAD FEEL LIKE?

Untreated, SAD can always be recognized by depression recurring every year during the Winter. In affected individuals it is more than a feeling of "Winter blahs" brought about by gloomy, dark, miserable days. In milder cases individuals may experience a slup in energy with little depression, but more commonly depression with some of the following features is a hallmark. People with SAD may feel helpless, hopeless and guilty. They may have difficulty thinking and making decisions as do those with Major depression. They may be in so much distress they are unable to carry out work and social related activities. (all symptoms of major depression). They may also present symptoms uncommon to major depression including extreme anxiety, increased appetite with weight gain, increased sleep, intense moodiness, phobias and severe fatigue, severe enough to cause a sense of heaviness in the arms and legs. In SAD, as in any severe depression, suicide can be a risk.

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