Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Overview

Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that's associated with the changes in the seasons, and it also has the clever acronym S.A.D. It's also called winter blues. Women are four times more likely to experience it. People would have winter blues, which is just a sense that things aren't as positive in the winter as in the spring or summer.

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal affective disorder is considered a depressive disorder, a subtype of major depression with seasonal changes. So what that means is that it typically onsets in the autumn, lasting through the winter months and then improving in the spring. This often starts with fatigue and low energy but starts to involve more symptoms of depression, symptoms of sadness, lethargy, and apathy.

What Are the Types of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

There are two types of seasonal affective disorder including:

• Winter-pattern SAD: It is a common type of SAD. People with this type of SAD start to experience the symptoms in December. These symptoms wear off then in March. People find it difficult to deal with the symptoms in January and February.
• Summer-pattern SAD: It is a rare type of SAD where individuals experience episodes of symptoms in the summer season. Summer-pattern SAD initially starts in March and subsides in September.

What Can Be the Causes of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

The accurate causes of SAD haven’t been found yet, but it can be a combination of various factors that contribute to the illness.

• Your circadian rhythm: The lack of sunlight in the fall and winter might lead to winter-onset SAD. The result of this is that the body may be deprived of the necessary sunlight to regulate body rhythm causing depression.
• Serotonin levels: SAD could be caused by a decrease in the levels of serotonin, which is a chemical produced in the brain that influences mood. Less exposure to the sun results in decreased serotonin and this leads to depression.
• Melatonin levels: Seasonal change may affect hormone regulation in humans, especially the regulation of melatonin, which is related to sleep and mood.

The Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder

Here are six signs and symptoms that you may have seasonal affective disorder.

• Disturbed Sleep Pattern - You're either sleeping too much or too little. The faster it gets dark outside, the more it can disrupt our internal clock, which can cause our body to produce too much melatonin, leaving us feeling drowsy or lowering our serotonin, which can take away from our sleep. Both melatonin and serotonin govern our sleep and wake cycles, so when the levels alternate, it can make a good night's sleep nearly impossible.
• Fluctuations in appetite and weight - Are you experiencing food cravings for sweets or salty snacks? With the cold weather, it's tempting to binge on junk food in front of the TV, but this is how SAD gets you.
>Losing interest in hobbies - Some days you just don't want to do anything after you get home from school or work, but if it becomes consistent, it might be SAD kicking in. Losing your energy or your drive to do your favourite activities is a dead giveaway to this condition. You might find that you also have trouble concentrating on tasks.
• Frequent mood swings - This is something many people struggle with. The waterworks are no joke, and sometimes it happens without any reason.
• Withdraw from people - It's natural to cancel plans when a snowstorm is coming, but if you're being a hermit 24/7 something's wrong. Come out from those covers and call your friends and family for help.
• Suicidal thoughts - These are probably the worst symptoms of all. It might feel like a dead end is approaching when winter doesn't learn to let go, but please remember that spring is right around the corner.

Diagnosis of SAD

If you experience changes in mood or general well-being during the season changes, you should consult your primary physician or a psychiatrist.
The diagnosis of SAD includes:

• Whether your depression is seasonal or not.
• If your symptoms are regular with a duration of three to five months at a time.
• If you have such periods in at least two consecutive years, you can be diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder.

Your provider may also want you to complete the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), which is the most frequently used test for SAD. This questionnaire inquires about factors such as mood, sleep quality, appetite level, energy level, and even potential weight loss.

The Treatment for SAD

Like a lot of problems with mental health, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treating seasonal affective disorder. However, there are certain ways to manage the disorder. Your treatment plan may include a combination of light therapy, psychotherapy, medication, and cognitive behavioural therapy.

• Light therapy - One of the ways that you can treat seasonal affective disorder is through light therapy. Bright light therapy is when you use artificial light to mimic the sun, this helps your brain and your body, produce more serotonin, and melatonin. Light therapy can help people fall asleep more easily at night, and feel happier, and more energized during the day.
• Psychotherapy - This involves talking to a trained counsellor about your worries and problems. You might discuss how you feel about yourself and others and talk about experiences in your past. These sessions aim to find out whether anything in your past is affecting how you feel today.
• Medication - Anti-depressants are often prescribed to treat depression, and they're also sometimes used to treat severe cases of SAD. Anti-depressants are thought to be most effective if they're taken at the start of winter before your symptoms appear. Selective serotonin reuptake Inhibitors, also known as SSRIs, are the preferred type of anti-depressant medicines for treating SAD. They work by increasing the level of serotonin in your brain which can help to lift your mood.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - It is a talking therapy based on the idea that the way we think and behave affects the way we feel, now changing the way you think about situations and what you do about them can help you to feel better. CBT involves several sessions with a specially trained therapist usually over several weeks or months.

What Are the Differences Between SAD and Depression?

SAD is similar to depression and the two are generally diagnosed with similar symptoms. In practice, the two types are only differentiated based on when the symptoms occur. They may diagnose you with seasonal affective disorder if:
Your symptoms start or become worse in the late fall and early winter. As a result of this comparison, we can also state that the overall severity of fall/winter symptoms is much higher than non-seasonal symptoms. During a particular season, your symptoms have been worse for two or more years in a row. But, of course, you don’t have to wait two years to go to a doctor and talk with your doctor about it. This is somebody you can talk to if you find that you have a depressed mood that is constant and is interfering with the quality of your life.

Living with Seasonal Affective Disorder

You can take steps to improve the symptoms of SAD or perhaps prevent it from recurring.

• Make your atmosphere more sunlit and cheerful - This will require installing some skylights on your home, doing away with the curtains, and trimming the trees that tend to obstruct the sun. When at home or the workplace, sit beside a window where you can get ample lighting.
• Get some fresh air – Take a walk, eat at a park, or just sit on a bench when there is sunshine. It is important to note that light from outdoors is good most of the time, especially if a person goes outdoors within two hours after dawn.
• Engage in physical activity - Exercise as well as other types of physical activities help to overcome stress as well as anxiety, two factors that are known to worsen the symptoms. It also helps to be in better shape because this can also make you feel better about yourself and that is always good for your mood.
• Sleep patterns - Set wake-up and bedtime for each day and stick to them even on weekends. Avoid or cut down on nap time and the tendency to oversleep particularly during the seasonal change from fall to winter.

How to Support Loved Ones With Seasonal Affective Disorder

It can be difficult to understand and help your loved ones with Seasonal Affective Disorder. You can make them feel that they are not alone.

Make them realize that they are not alone - The best thing that you may do is to let a person you are concerned about know that you are there for them and that they don’t have to keep to themselves about what they are going through.

Urge them to seek assistance - This can be quite important when aiding a friend or a family member. They need to be told that like other diseases, SAD is also an acknowledged disease and that they have a right to be treated and to be given help.

Don’t judge – It may be baffling for a person who has never suffered from SAD to understand why a close one can’t just shake it off. Avoid blaming them. Probably, they are already being harsh on themselves.

How Jagruti Helps in SAD Treatment?

If you are among those who experience seasonal affective disorders, you need to be treated immediately. At Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre, we are glad to assist you in obtaining SAD treatment. You can call us and we have our admission team to provide you with all the necessary information you need. We will also assess the disorder with you to offer you the most optimum treatment.
Those who seek treatment can visit one of our centres, the admission team shall schedule you for an appropriate admission date to take the treatment.

Myths about SAD

Myth: Seasonal affective disorder is only experienced during winter time.
Fact: Nevertheless, SAD might manifest during spring, summer, or other seasons though it is a quite rare condition.

Myth: Lightbox treatment is always beneficial in SAD.
Fact: It is recommended that those who have SAD use bright light therapy, but this method is not suitable for everyone.

Myth: SAD only affects people in areas that experience overcast weather conditions.
Fact: SAD does not depend on the intensity of the light but on the number of hours of light exposure during a day.

Myth: It is essential to note that seasonal affective disorder affects only women.
Fact: SAD is mostly a women’s issue, but men also fall prey to it.

Statistics About Seasonal Affective Disorder

According to the surveys, more than 10 million people in India suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective disorder)
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/health/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-causes-symptoms-and-treatment-101678768228869.html
For the people who it impacts, the regular symptoms of SAD are present for about 40% of the year. In some people, SAD does not cycle annually. It is estimated that 30 to 50% of initially affected individuals may not exhibit the signs of the disorder in subsequent winters. As many as 40% of people diagnosed with SAD experience depression beyond the winter and do not get realized during summer, which changes the diagnosis to either MDD or Bipolar disorder.
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/seasonal-affective-disorder/