6 Tips on How to Deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder

When does seasonal affective disorder occur?

As winter settles in, seasonal affective disorder (rather aptly known as SAD) has taken hold for many of us. It begins at the end of summer and the start of fall, when the number of hours of daylight begin to decrease and the sun sets earlier. It’s especially potent this year, as COVID-19 makes it harder to leave home, tend to healthy routines, and have access to the things that help keep you balanced, like enough time outside in the sunlight, no matter how short the days are.

What is seasonal affective disorder?

SAD: sometimes also called “the winter blues” is a type of recurrent depressive disorder that occurs during the fall and winter months brought on by decreased exposure to sunlight.

How many people are affected by seasonal affective disorder?

An estimated 10 million Americans experience SAD, while another 10-20 percent experience a milder version of it.

It’s easy to write seasonal affective disorder off as a summer lover’s condition, but even people who adore the cold-weather pleasures of winter experience SAD. It is a real mental health condition and should be taken seriously.

Seasonal affective disorder symptoms

• You’ve experienced seasonal depression or low moods for more than two years, with the symptoms starting around the same time each year
• You experience seasonal depression more often than other depression
• During fall and winter, you experience feelings of discontent, sadness, apathy, anxiety, and moodiness
• You may feel like you’re incredibly hungry (usually for carbs as your body uses them to produce serotonin in addition to sunlight) or that you have no appetite, which is a symptom of depression
• You might have issues concentrating, falling asleep, or oversleeping
• You feel daily fatigue
• You tend to socially isolate or don't feel like being around other people
• You're experiencing an uptick in physical symptoms without a known cause, such as headaches or stomachaches
• You're having thoughts of suicide or self-harm

How can seasonal affective disorder be treated?

Therapy and antidepressants are the most common treatment for people with SAD, as it can present as depression. Any psychiatric medication is always most effective when combined with therapy, and there doesn't have to be anything "wrong" with you to start, so it's a good idea to ask your PCP for a referral for a therapist at the same time as you bring up the possibility of antidepressants. Your PCP or psychiatrist may prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which include drugs like Fluoxetine (Prozac) Citalopram (Celexa), Sertraline (Zoloft) Escitalopram (Lexapro), and many others. These work by increasing the amount of serotonin your brain is able to use.

Your doctor or psychiatrist may also prescribe another class of meds called norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRI), such as Wellbutrin XL. These drugs boost norepinephrine, another "happy hormone" like serotonin. One advantage to NDRIs over the more commonly and widely used SSRIs is that they tend to have less sexual side effects. However, because they increase adrenaline, they are contraindicated if your depression is accompanied by anxiety, which they can exacerbate.

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