Do you know anything about Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Question

I've just been diagnosed with it and my GP will start treatment in September
Are there any cures or things I can try ???

Answer 1

You can try lights and lamps that are specially made for SAD, and also take some 5HTP to raise your serotonin levels.

Answer 2

What is SAD?

Animals react to the changing seasons with changes in mood, metabolism and behaviour and human beings are just the same. Most people find they eat and sleep slightly more in winter and dislike the dark mornings and short days. For some, however, symptoms are severe enough to disrupt their lives and to cause considerable distress. These people are suffering from SAD.

How does it affect people?

Sufferers have to endure most of the following:


Sleep problems - oversleeping but not refreshed, cannot get out of bed, needing a nap in the afternoon
Overeating - carbohydrate craving leading to weight gain
Depression, despair, misery, guilt, anxiety - normal tasks become frustratingly difficult
Family / social problems - avoiding company, irritability, loss of libido, loss of feeling
Lethargy - too tired to cope, everything an effort
Physical symptoms - often joint pain or stomach problems, lowered resistance to infection
Behavioural problems - especially in young people

The symptoms tend to start from around September each year lasting until April, but are at their worst in the darkest months.

Who does it affect?

The standard figure says that around 2% of people in Northern Europe suffer badly, with many more (10%) putting up with milder symptoms (sub-syndromal SAD or the Winter Blues). Across the world the incidence increases with distance from the equator, except where there is snow on the ground, when it becomes less common. More women than men are diagnosed as having SAD. Children and adolescents are also vulnerable.

What causes it?

The problem stems from the lack of bright light in winter. Researchers have proved that bright light makes a difference to the brain chemistry, although the exact means by which sufferers are affected is not yet known. It is not a psychosomatic or imaginary illness.

More about the physiology behind SAD

What treatment is there?

As the cause is lack of bright light, the treatment is to be in bright light every day by using a light box or a similar bright light therapy device. (Going to a brightly-lit climate, whether skiing or somewhere hot, is indeed a cure). The preferred level of light is about as bright as a spring morning on a clear day and for most people sitting in front of a light box, allowing the light to reach the eyes, for between 15 and 45 minutes daily will be sufficient to alleviate the symptoms. The user does not have to stare at the light, but can watch TV or read or similar, just allowing the light to reach the eyes. Outside In have a complete range of light boxes, all designed in line with the research findings from medical and academic facilities. They are all available on our pioneering Home Trial System, and most of them VAT-free for personal users.

Answer 3

Hey! You should look into purchasing a SoLux Light Fixture from Tailored Lighting, Inc. Their website is www.solux.net.

Between September and April in the Northern Hemisphere (March thru October in the Southern Hemisphere), certain people who are light sensitive start experiencing the “winter blues.” Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is an extreme physical and mental reaction to the lack of natural light.
Sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy dietary habits typical of the winter months cause people affected by SADS to exhibit extremely depressed behavior. They complain of a lack of energy, an increased need for sleep, a craving for sweets, and weight gain.

Symptoms usually begin as daylight hours become shorter, peak in the winter, and subside in the spring as daylight hours become longer. The National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland had this to say about SAD, “Along with food, air, and water, sunlight is the most important survival factor in human life.”

Daylight promotes hormonal equilibrium. Your brain needs a certain amount of natural light each and every day. When natural light hits your retina, it is transmitted to an area of your brain called the pineal body. The pineal is the brain’s center for the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates daily body rhythms, most notably the day/night cycle (circadian rhythms). Normal melatonin levels are important for natural sleep cycles and proper immune system function.

During the summer, getting the proper amount of natural light is as easy as taking a 10 to 15-minute walk. Without sunglasses over your eyes, natural, full spectrum light easily passes into the eye, striking the retina, and positively affecting your brain.

In the winter, you spend the majority of your time indoors. When, weather permitting, you go outdoors, you protect yourself from the cold with clothes and sunglasses. A 10 to 15-minute walk provides a fraction of the natural light exposure. In order to augment your natural light exposure and maintain a healthy hormone balance, you need a light with the same spectrum as daylight.

SoLux is the only light source in the world that reproduces accurately and precisely the daylight spectrum. To obtain a level of natural daylight exposure equivalent to that of a 10-minute summertime stroll, all you need to do is work under a SoLux light for an hour and a half. Achieving this is easier that you think. Most of us work at our desks for 8-10 hours a day. With Tailored Lighting desk lamps providing SoLux daylight, your brain will think you have been outdoors all day long.

Answer 4

I won't say there are cures. But you can try getting out into sunlight more, and use brighter lights indoors.

And this might sound strange, but try to find an exercise program that you can work into your daily routine. Revving your body up should help some.

Good luck!

Answer 5

it happens a lot. nothing to do right now as the days are longer and you busier in the summer. when the fall comes around follow through with your treatment and stay active.

Answer 6

It is all in the mind baby!! You just need to have a balanced life style to correct mental problems!! GPs don't have a clue about illnesses.

You have to be realistic in life!

Answer 7

its Seasonal.....
its Affective....
and its a Disorder.....
SAD for short.......or gloomy....for long...

Answer 8

there is a special light bulb you can buy
http://www.outsidein.co.uk/sadinfo.htm