• What is SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
• Do I have SAD?
• What is summer SAD?
• How is SAD diagnosed?
• How does light affect SAD?
• Can spending more time outside help cure SAD?
• Do lights help SAD?
• How do lights help with SAD?
• Can SAD be treated with vacations?
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?
Sad is more commonly known as winter depression. It is the feeling one gets when the days shorten, there is far less sunlight, and a general state of sadness develops. SAD is characterized by a repetitive yearly mood drop during the fall and winter season.
SAD was met with a great deal of skepticism for many years. It is now part of the DSM-IV and is considered an established condition with symptoms and treatments. Some of the common symptoms of SAD include oversleeping, lack of energy, and general depression. The opposite is found during the summer months, in which anxiety, due to hyper alertness and excess energy, tend to manifest.
Do I have SAD?
Lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, not being able to wake up in the morning, feeling sick in the morning, and oversleeping are common symptoms of SAD. These symptoms are often tied to avoidance of social activities, pessimism, and hopelessness. If you are feeling these symptoms at specific times of the year, and this has been going on for more than two years, than it is possible that you suffer from SAD.
What is summer SAD?
SAD does not only affect people during the winter months. There are those that suffer from SAD in the summer months as well, reporting the same symptoms and feeling the same depression. This is referred to as Summer SAD.
How are people with seasonal affective disorder diagnosed?
The DSM-IV regards SAD not as a disorder, but rather a “course specifier” that helps describe the overall disorder that people with seasonal affective disorder are experiencing. For example, if a patient is experiencing a depressive episode, SAD can be applied as a description of the disorder.
For a patient to qualify as suffering from SAD they must have depression during specific times of the year that has lasted for at least two years with no depressive episodes during the “off season,” which is typically summer.
SAD is not the typical lowered energy felt by most during the winter. It is a debilitating depression that seriously impedes one's ability to socialize, wake up, and remain healthy that only occurs as a direct result of the changing of the seasons.
How does light affect depression during winter?
It is believed that light has a great deal to do with depression during winter. Light therapy exposes patients to intense levels of light, to help alleviate the symptoms of SAD.
According to research done at Columbia University, “In clinical trials at our institute, with over 100 SAD patients who used a 10,000 lux system with UV-filtered light diffusion and angular tilt, for 30 minutes each day, about 3/4 showed major improvement of depressive symptoms.”
One of the critical elements of light therapy is finding the correct dose. Each person responds to a different amount of light in a different way.
Can spending more time outside help cure SAD?
There are patients who report increased happiness by spending more time in the sun. The vast majority report that early morning artificial light is by far the most helpful in treating SAD.
Do lights help SAD?
Yes, lights have been shown to minimize the depression felt by those afflicted with SAD.
“Researchers at more than 15 medical centers and clinics, in both the U.S. and abroad, have had much success with light therapy in patients with clear histories of SAD for at least several years. Marked improvement is usually observed within a week, if not sooner, and symptoms usually return in about the same amount of time when the lights are withdrawn.” Columbia University
How do lights help with SAD?
Melatonin, found in the skin, reacts to illumination. The body's clock is directly affected by the amount of light present. Waking up, without there being any light, is literally physically more difficult. The body has not had time to adjust, making it far more difficult to raise body temperature, secret the appropriate hormones, and get the body ready for the day.
Can SAD be treated with vacations?
Netherland researchers measured vacation happiness in a 32 week study.
“An article published in the Journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life, showed that the largest boost in (vacation) happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.” (New York Times)
The key to keeping that happiness lies in how relaxing the vacation is. Most vacationers, when they return from their trip, immediately report that their happiness levels fell to normal levels. The only vacationers who kept their feeling of happiness are those that reported their vacation as “very relaxing”.
Besides finding a very relaxing place to take your vacation, you should consider the amount of sunlight as well. Going somewhere with a great deal of sunlight, like Panama City Beach resorts, will greatly boost the amount of natural light you receive, while giving you the added benefit of relaxation.
Also, According to a recent study, women who take frequent vacations are less likely to become depressed and are more satisfied with their marriages. Researchers at the Marshfield Clinic found that tension is significantly higher for those women who take vacations only once every two years, as opposed to those who take vacations twice a year or more. SAD and light are directly affected, so when you are planning a vacation, you should keep the amount of light you will need in mind. By the way, there is plenty of wonderful light on Panama City beach hotels!
References
Wikipedia – Seasonal Affective Disorder
New York Times – Vacations and Happiness
Marshfield – Women and Vacations
Panama City Beach Resorts
