News Release
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) does make people feel sad
As we approach the winter solstice on Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year, the dwindling daylight may be giving you "the winter blues'' or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
"It has long been known that sunlight, as it peaks and ebbs over the year, affects many animals’ seasonal activities, such as hibernation or reproductive cycles. Apparently, humans are no exception," said Dr. Joseph DiVincenzo, MD, a psychiatrist at Friends Hospital. "SAD is a very real problem for about 10 million people a year causing symptoms of depression and the inability to carry out their daily responsibilities."
Signs to watch out for include:
- depression,
- trouble concentrating,
- changes in appetite,
- lack of sex drive,
- even suicidal thoughts.
Seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression with symptoms that occur during the winter months, usually going into remission during the spring and summer. Although it was first noted before 1845, it has only received wide public attention in the last decade or so. The disorder usually begins in early adulthood, and four times as many women as men are affected. For most people with SAD, January and February are the worst months.
Causes
People with SAD have lost the natural rhythm that signals the body to fall asleep and awake at the proper times. Researchers have tied SAD to melatonin, a sleep-related hormone that the human pineal gland produces and releases in the dark. Production of the hormone seems particularly active during winter, when the days are shorter and darker.
Symptoms
The symptoms for SAD are rather specific to avoid misdiagnosis for other depressive disorders:
- Regularly occurring symptoms of depression (sad, anxious or "empty" moods; decreased energy and interest, etc.) during the fall/winter months of at least three different years – two of them consecutively;
- At least three times as many instances of depression within a two-month time frame as during other times of the year;
- No other factors that could account for regular changes of mood (become unemployed every winter, etc.);
- Excessive eating and sleeping, weight gaining during fall/winter months.
Treatment
Researchers still don't know why some people are affected more than others, but they have found an effective natural treatment - returning daylight, particularly morning light, to the person's life. In 1980, a researcher discovered that the very bright light blocks the release of melatonin in people – and relieves winter depression. Patients generally respond to bright light therapy within four days of starting treatment – relapsing within four days after stopping the therapy.
Patients are typically seated three feet away from a full-spectrum florescent light (about 12 times brighter than ordinary room light) and asked to glance at it about once a minute. The only side effects it seems to cause are occasional eyestrain and headaches.
"The difficulty for those who treat it is determining who is suffering from the disorder, who is simply depressed, and who may be coming down with the ``holiday blues'' common during this season," said Dr. DiVincenzo.
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Revised: July 27, 2005