Table of Contents
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Why Do We Experience Seasonal Affective Disorder
Fall. Who doesn’t love fall? Autumnal leaves in bursts of orange and red. Cooler evenings that all but require snuggling under a cozy blanket with a cup of your favorite tea. Then, as the temperatures drop and days get shorter, those cozy autumn feelings start to shift. Maybe those restorative snuggles start to become more like extended naps, feeble attempts to replenish your dwindling energy. Have you ever noticed your thoughts darkening with the early sunsets? Or your mood turning chillier than winter weather?
If so, you might be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines SAD as “a type of depression that comes and goes with the seasons, typically starting in the late fall and early winter and going away during the spring and summer.” As NIMH mentions, SAD is typically associated with the colder months of the year, but in rare cases, individuals might experience “Summer Pattern” SAD during the spring and summer.
Although it’s normal to be less than excited about cold weather, SAD goes above and beyond simply feeling down. As Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a former NIMH researcher and Georgetown professor of Clinical Psychiatry, notes, symptoms typically coincide with an individual’s exposure to “environmental light” (aka sunlight). Researchers believe that the wintertime decrease in environmental light causes changes in our circadian rhythms, leading to an overproduction of the sleep hormone melatonin.
So this explains that 5 pm feeling.
Why Do We Experience Seasonal Affective Disorder
For those bio-nerds among us, these changes may be an evolutionary holdover from our ancestors. Great-great-great-great-great grandma needed to conserve energy and increase food consumption to survive the harsh winter. With the fields harvested and crops stored for winter, there was little need to maintain those summer hours. So our ancestors rested. Hibernation – homosapien style.
Unfortunately, the only fields most of us manage in the modern world are those digital minefields we call our “inbox.” In other words, we don’t (or can’t) burrow in for the winter. We’re expected to keep pace with our work projects, relationships, families, and of course holiday cheer.
In terms of its symptoms, SAD often looks like a typical case of Major Depressive Disorder, causing hopelessness, low energy, and thoughts of death. However, Winter Pattern SAD symptoms also include a noted “craving for carbohydrates” and “hypersomnia” (excessive sleepiness). Does this sound like anyone else’s Thanksgiving?
Let’s be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with baked goods followed by a nap. We encourage such days. However, if patterns persist in a SAD-like way, you may want to work with a professional.
How to treat seasonal affective disorder
Luckily, there are plenty of interventions designed to alleviate the negative symptoms associated with SAD. Tried and true methods include psychotherapy and prescription medication. Because of SAD’s association with light exposure, interventions targeting light exposure have also become popular options.
Light therapy for SAD
One popular form of treatment is called “light box therapy“. This form of therapy involves “sitting in front of a light box first thing in the morning daily from the early fall until spring.” It can be performed from home—ordering a light box is as simple as searching your favorite online retailer.
Other recommendations include “de-loading” work or other demands while focusing on stress management. Those impacted by SAD may also benefit from a renewed commitment to their most nourishing relationships or leaning on loved ones for support.
If those DIY methods aren’t quite enough, many folks find relief in brain-based therapies, like those offered at Viva.
Brain-based Therapies for SAD
Since SAD is a form of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), many people seek treatments similar to those commonly used for major depressive disorder (MDD), including brain-based therapies like eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
Eye Movement Densitization and Reprocessing or EMDR was originally developed to treat PTSD and other trauma symptoms. Over time, it has proven to be effective at treating a range of symptoms to include anxiety, grief, and SAD. EMDR works by reprocessing the “blocks” that prevent our brains from healing, and us from achieving mental wellness. Ultimately, SAD, for so many, looks like trauma, experienced year after year. Using the brain-body network, EMDR therapists can help clients reprocess painful memories, create new positive associations, and move through SAD.
Feeling as though the cold winter days are taking more of a toll than you’d expect? It’s worth doing a little research into SAD. If you have any questions about SAD or EMDR, feel free to contact any of our clinicians via info@vivapartnership.com. Together we can make this seasonal change is a welcomed one, or at the very least manageable.
