SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every Winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February.

It is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter.

For many people SAD is a seriously disabling illness, preventing them from functioning normally without continuous medical treatment.

For others, it is a mild but debilitating condition causing discomfort but not severe suffering. We call this subsyndromal SAD or 'winter blues.'

Symptoms

The symptoms of SAD usually recur regularly each Winter, starting between September and November and continuing until March or April, and a diagnosis can be made after three or more consecutive Winters of symptoms, which include a number of the following:

· Sleep problems: Usually desire to oversleep and difficulty staying awake but, in some cases, disturbed sleep and early morning wakening

· Lethargy: Feeling of fatigue and inability to carry out normal routine

· Overeating: Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, usually resulting in weight gain

· Depression: Feelings of misery, guilt and loss of self-esteem, sometimes hopelessness and despair, sometimes apathy and loss of feelings

· Social problems: Irritability and desire to avoid social contact

· Anxiety: Tension and inability to tolerate stress

· Loss of libido Decreased interest in sex and physical contact

· Mood changes In some sufferers, extremes of mood and short periods of hypomania (overactivity) in spring and autumn.

· Most sufferers show signs of a weakened immune, system during the Winter, and are more vulnerable to infections and other illnesses.

SAD symptoms disappear in Spring, either suddenly with a short period (e.g., four weeks) of hypomania or hyperactivity, or gradually, depending on the intensity of sunlight in the Spring and early Summer.

In sub-syndromal SAD, symptoms such as tiredness, lethargy, sleep and eating problems occur, but depression and anxiety are absent or mild.

SAD may begin at any age but the main age of onset is between 18 and 30 years.

It occurs throughout the northern and southern hemispheres but is extremely rare in those living within 30 degrees of the Equator, where daylight hours are long, constant and extremely bright.

TREATMENT

SAD can be treated in a variety of ways, Light Therapy, Antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy, counseling or any complementary therapy which helps the sufferer to relax, accept their illness and cope with its limitations.

We are happy to share this space with the good people at CPCS. The following are diagnostic criteria, or symptoms, for some common mental health disorders other than SADD, which is covered in the article above by CPCS. All of these are very treatable and many are curable. A combination of counseling and medication is usually most effective.

Anxiety

Three or more of the following: feeling on edge; being easily fatigued; difficulty concentrating or mind going blank; irritability; muscle tension; sleep disturbance.

Manic Phase of Manic-Depressive Illness:

1. A distinct period of abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least one week.

2. Three or more of the following: inflated self-esteem or grandiosity; decreased need for sleep; pressured speech; flight of ideas/racing thoughts; distractibility; increase in goal-directed activity or agitation; excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., buying sprees, sexual indiscretions).

Schizophrenia:

1. Two or more of the following: delusions; hallucinations; disorganized speech; grossly disorganized behavior; flattened affect (e.g., no laughing or crying);

2. Social/Occupational dysfunction.

Attention-Deficit Disorder:

Six or more of the following: fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork or work; difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activity; does not seem to listen when spoken to directly; does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace; has difficulty organizing tasks and activities; avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort; loses things necessary for tasks or activities; easily distracted by extraneous stimuli; forgetful in daily activities.