What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder in which persons with normal mental health experience depressive symptoms during the winter months. A diagnosis of SAD requires that the person experience the depressive symptoms year after year, not just for one winter or part of one winter. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) classifies SAD as a “specifier of major depression,” not a unique disorder.
What are the Symptoms of SAD?
Symptoms of SAD include difficulty waking up in the morning, tendency to oversleep as well as to overeat (especially a craving for carbohydrates), a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating on completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities. These symptoms lead to the depression, pessimism, and lack of pleasure which characterize a person suffering from this disorder.
What are the causes of SAD?
1. Disruption of Circadian Rhythms: The reduced level of sunlight in fall and winter may disrupt your body’s internal clock, which lets you know when you should sleep or be awake. This disruption of your circadian rhythm may lead to feelings of depression. This cause is exacerbated the further one lives from the equator (meaning that periods of darkness are longer).
2. Melatonin levels. The change in seasons can disrupt the balance of the natural hormone melatonin, which plays a role in sleep patterns and mood.
3. Serotonin levels. A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might play a role in seasonal affective disorder. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin, perhaps leading to depression.
Natural Ways to Fight SAD:
1. Get Outside During Daylight Hours: Most people with a traditional work schedule wind up arriving to work and departing work when it is dark outside during shorter winter days. To fight SAD, try to take a walk during lunchtime, spend some time in a park, or just attempt to sit near a window. Even if it is overcast, the ultraviolet B light in sunlight will still penetrate the clouds and increase your vitamin D levels. Make time on the weekends for outdoor activities.
2. Exercise Regularly: Exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase seasonal affective disorder symptoms.
3. Make Your Home and Work Environment Brighter and Sunnier: Open blinds, trim trees that block windows, and attempt to sit near windows as you work or rest.
4. Use St. John’s Wort: this herb has traditionally been used to treat a variety of problems, including depression.
5. Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acid supplements have been shown to relieve depression symptoms in some studies. Sources of omega-3s include fatty, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel and herring. Flaxseed, flax oil and walnuts also contain omega-3 fatty acids, and small amounts are found in soybean and canola oils.
6. Socialize: Make efforts to see friends and colleagues often.
7. Take a Trip: A vacation to a sun-drenched location like the desert Southwest of America or a tropical beach will give you a large dose of the sunlight you’ve been missing.
8. Get Enough Sleep, But Don’t Sleep Too Much: Not sleeping enough will hurt your immune system and exacerbate symptoms of depression, but too much sleep will also lead to more depression. Develop a sleep schedule that allows you to get at least six, but preferably eight or nine hours of sleep per day.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder in which persons with normal mental health experience depressive symptoms during the winter months. A diagnosis of SAD requires that the person experience the depressive symptoms year after year, not just for one winter or part of one winter. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) classifies SAD as a “specifier of major depression,” not a unique disorder.
What are the Symptoms of SAD?
Symptoms of SAD include difficulty waking up in the morning, tendency to oversleep as well as to overeat (especially a craving for carbohydrates), a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating on completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities. These symptoms lead to the depression, pessimism, and lack of pleasure which characterize a person suffering from this disorder.
What are the causes of SAD?
1. Disruption of Circadian Rhythms: The reduced level of sunlight in fall and winter may disrupt your body’s internal clock, which lets you know when you should sleep or be awake. This disruption of your circadian rhythm may lead to feelings of depression. This cause is exacerbated the further one lives from the equator (meaning that periods of darkness are longer).
2. Melatonin levels. The change in seasons can disrupt the balance of the natural hormone melatonin, which plays a role in sleep patterns and mood.
3. Serotonin levels. A drop in serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, might play a role in seasonal affective disorder. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin, perhaps leading to depression.
Natural Ways to Fight SAD:
1. Get Outside During Daylight Hours: Most people with a traditional work schedule wind up arriving to work and departing work when it is dark outside during shorter winter days. To fight SAD, try to take a walk during lunchtime, spend some time in a park, or just attempt to sit near a window. Even if it is overcast, the ultraviolet B light in sunlight will still penetrate the clouds and increase your vitamin D levels. Make time on the weekends for outdoor activities.
2. Exercise Regularly: Exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase seasonal affective disorder symptoms.
3. Make Your Home and Work Environment Brighter and Sunnier: Open blinds, trim trees that block windows, and attempt to sit near windows as you work or rest.
4. Use St. John’s Wort: this herb has traditionally been used to treat a variety of problems, including depression.
5. Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acid supplements have been shown to relieve depression symptoms in some studies. Sources of omega-3s include fatty, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel and herring. Flaxseed, flax oil and walnuts also contain omega-3 fatty acids, and small amounts are found in soybean and canola oils.
6. Socialize: Make efforts to see friends and colleagues often.
7. Take a Trip: A vacation to a sun-drenched location like the desert Southwest of America or a tropical beach will give you a large dose of the sunlight you’ve been missing.
8. Get Enough Sleep, But Don’t Sleep Too Much: Not sleeping enough will hurt your immune system and exacerbate symptoms of depression, but too much sleep will also lead to more depression. Develop a sleep schedule that allows you to get at least six, but preferably eight or nine hours of sleep per day.
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