Having the winter blues?
The winter blues, or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects 1% to 10% of the US population. Symptoms usually start in the fall and continue through the winter and resolve in the spring and summer. Less commonly, people can have SAD in the spring and summer and resolve in the fall and winter.
Signs and Symptoms
People with SAD can experience:
- Feelings of depression that last almost all day and tend to occur every day
- Sudden loss of interest in hobbies and other things that used to be enjoyable
- Experiencing feelings of low energy or having low energy levels
- Difficulty sleeping
- Changes in appetite and/or weight
- Getting annoyed or irritated more quickly than normal
- Feeling tired and sluggish
- Trouble focusing and concentrating
- Feelings of hopelessness, guilt, or worthlessness
- Thoughts of death or suicide
Why does seasonal affective disorder occur?
The cause of SAD is poorly understood. Decrease in daylight hours during the winter can cause winter-onset SAD. There is research that SAD can be due to a decrease in activity of serotonin. If there is a deficit in vitamin D, this will further hinder serotonin activity. There are other findings that there can be an overproduction in melatonin which causes an increase in sleepiness.
Management:
- Stress management
- Exercise more
- Inside or outside
- Eat healthy
- Light therapy
- Go outside
- Add more light inside the home
