Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), can occur in both winter and summer months. Symptoms include anxiety, fatigue, and disinterest. Treatment options include light therapy, medication, and psychotherapy. Seeking help is important for improving quality of life.
Seasonal depression, sometimes known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a type of depression related to seasonality. Many people think of winter blues when they hear about seasonal depression, because depression is very common in the winter months, especially in high latitudes where light is limited in winter. However, people can also experience seasonal depression in the summer, and people with summer depression may take longer to realize the problem if they only associate seasonal depression with winter.
Seasonal depression sufferers experience anxiety, fatigue, disinterest, and similar symptoms in the months leading up to summer or winter. He or she tends to sleep a lot, eat heavy, starchy foods, and have difficulty motivating themselves. In the height of the season, depression can be severe and even debilitating. At the end of the season, the patient experiences an improvement in mood which can sometimes develop into mania. For someone to be diagnosed with seasonal depression, there must be two or more years of a seasonal pattern of depression in the patient’s history.
In a rare variant of seasonal depression known as reverse SAD, people experience mania during the summer months. Because seasonal depression often involves transitions between depression and mania, it can be a precursor to bipolar disorder, and in some cases, people who really do have bipolar disorder can be misdiagnosed with seasonal depression and vice versa. The treatments for these two mood disorders are very different, making a correct diagnosis crucial.
For winter blues, patients seem to benefit from light therapy, including sunrise simulations which are used to make the patient feel like there is more light during the day. Antidepressant medications may also be used, along with psychotherapy, to give the patient an opportunity to talk about issues that may be causing further anxiety and depression. Summertime depression or mania is typically treated with psychotherapy and medication.
People are sometimes shy about seeking help for depression, especially in the case of season-related issues, because they’re embarrassed or think they’ll make it. There is no need to suffer from depression without assistance, and people can find their quality of life greatly improved with the assistance of a mental health professional and some small lifestyle changes. Coping with seasonal depression can also help people be more productive at work or school during times of depression, which can be very helpful.
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