Seasonal Affective Disorder
Written by Vicki Tillman, M.A. and published on 21-May-2009.
Do you get the winter blues? Do cold gray days get you down? Is it difficult to function during the winter months? If so, you may be experiencing SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is estimated that at least six percent of Americans suffer from strong symptoms of SAD and fourteen percent experience the "blahs" during the winter.
Symptoms of SAD include:
- Depression that begins in the autumn or winter and disappears in the spring
- Oversleeping during the winter months
- Decreased social activities during the winter months
- Weight gain during the winter months
- Intense desire for carbohydrates during the winter months
- Low energy during the winter months.
SAD is thought to be caused by the decreased levels of light during the winter and is most often treated by special light therapy in conjunction with psychotherapy. With light therapy and psychotherapy, you can have a happy ending to your SAD experience.
Phototherapy
The most common form of treatment for seasonal affective disorder is phototherapy. Phototherapy involves exposure to intense levels of light under controlled conditions. The most common "dosage" is 10,000 lux of light for at least 30 minutes per day.
People with SAD who receive phototherapy usually show a marked improvement within four or five days. However, the symptoms usually return in about the same amount of time after treatment has been discontinued.
A 30-minute walk outside on a bright day will produce similar results with some additional cardio-vascular benefits. Unfortunately, many days in the winter months do not have agreeable weather for walks or provide enough light to reduce symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.
If you need more light than you are able to find during the winter months, consider a full-spectrum UV-filtered light box.
