Seasonal Affective Disorder

On this page:
Signs & symptoms
Treatment options
Print resources
Online resources

Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) is a type of clinical depression which follows a seasonal pattern. Typically someone with S.A.D. will start to experience symptoms of depression in fall or early winter, with improvement in spring or early summer.

It isn't clear what causes S.A.D. but research has linked depression to high levels of melatonin, a hormone which is produced naturally in our bodies during darkness (mostly while we sleep). During the winter when there are fewer hours of daylight, our levels of melatonin rise and this could relate to increased rates of depression in some people.

It's also believed that with the advent of electricity, we've shifted our internal biological clocks and that this may have affected our brain chemistry. Instead of going to bed when it becomes dark and rising with the sun as our ancestors did before electricity, we now sleep and wake according to standardized time frames.

Did you know?
Women are more likely than men to suffer from S.A.D.

S.A.D. often first appears when people are in their 20's and 30's.

It is estimated that 2-3% of the population suffer from S.A.D.

Signs and symptoms

Oversleeping (often an increase of 4 hours or more each day)
Lethargy
Intense craving for carbohydrates
Weight gain
Withdrawal from social contacts
Clinical depression

Other signs and symptoms of depression include:

Sad mood
Preoccupation with failures or inadequacies and a loss of self-esteem
Feelings of uselessness, hopelessness, excessive guilt
Slowed thinking, forgetfulness, difficulty in concentrating and in making decisions
Loss of interest in work, hobbies, people
Social isolation
Lethargy
Agitation/Irritability
Changes in appetite or weight (eating too little or too much)
Changes in sleep (sleeping too little or too much)
Decreased sexual drive
Suicidal thoughts

Treatment options

There are many treatment options for S.A.D., including medication (e.g. antidepressants) and psychotherapy (e.g. cognitive behaviour therapy). The most common treatment for S.A.D. is light therapy which involves exposure to specific kinds of light for prescribed amounts of time which is intended to inhibit the production of melatonin

For a list of places where you can get treatment and/or find a doctor, click here.

If you aren't sure where to begin, you can learn more about your choices and figure out which treatments might be best for you. To learn more click here.

Print resources

Don't Be SAD: Your Guide to Conquering Seasonal Affective Disorder by Celeste A. Peters. Script publishing Inc. 1994.
Canadian Consensus Guidelines for the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder by Raymond W. Lam and Anthony J. Levitt (editors). Clinical & Academic Publishing, 1999.
Winter Blues by Norman E. Rosenthal. Guilford Press, 2005.

Online resources

University of British Columbia S.A.D. information page
http://ubcsad.bc-alter.net

The Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms
www.sltbr.org

Canadian Mental Health Association
www.cmha.ca

Sources