Seasonal Affective Disorder
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer. Other symptoms can include carbohydrate cravings, oversleeping, fatigue, lethargy, anhedonia, increased sensitivity to rejection and of course depressive feelings.
The most common type of SAD is called winter-onset depression, where a much more serious mood reaction is experienced when summer shifts to fall and on to winter, and most people who live in the northern hemisphere who develop SAD will have their onset of symptoms in October and November, and they will have spontaneous remissions in April or May. On average, the best month for this group of people is around July, with the most socialization, the least appetite and correspondingly the weigh least, the least sleep all occurring at the same time. So something is happening in the brain in concert that affects these multiple functions.
Another, less intense form, is called subsyndromal SAD. People who suffer from subsyndromal SAD report that they are just not the same in the winter as they are in the summer.
A much less common type of SAD, known as summer-onset depression, usually begins in the late spring or early summer and goes away by winter.
Seasonal affective disorder may be related to changes in the amount of daylight during different times of the year. With winter, come longer nights and shorter days. Also, Winter-onset Seasonal affective disorder is more common the higher the latitude where the sun's rays are significantly weaker during the winter season.
Also, there is a significant correlation between latitude and case prevalence, where the further away one lives from the equator, the more likely one is to develop depression in the winter (SAD). For example, SAD ranges from about 1.5% of people in Florida to about 9% of the people in New Hampshire.
Exact numbers of sufferers are hard to know exactly, but it appears around 5% of the general population experience winter depression and another 10-20% have subsyndromal SAD.
Women are more apt to experiece seasonal depressive symptoms than men, particularly in their 20s, 30s, and 40s; so, during the years when women are reproductively active they are significantly more likely to suffer SAD. After menopause, however, the ratio for women approches that of men. In other words, women during their reproductive years are THE most vulnerable.
The same trend can be seen in adolescent females as they have higher levels of SAD as they become more sexually mature.
If you believe you have symptoms consistent with Seasonal Affective Disorder, then see you healthcare provider.
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