Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a kind of depression
caused by the effect of the change of seasons as early as August
or September in men and women and may be recognized by things as
simple as eating or sleeping more during winter than the rest of
the year.
The National Institute of Health realized about this disorder
during the 1970s although it has existed for centuries. This
entity realized about SAD after have asked people if they
noticed they were eating and sleeping more over winter.
Experts and new research discovered that the best way to fight
this disorder is to add cognitive behavior therapy or "talk
therapy" to the mix of using anti-depressant drugs and light
therapy, the traditional approaches to treat SAD.
SAD symptoms are not only winter blues and subtle changes in
eating and sleeping but also cravings for sweets and starches,
fatigue, irritability, social withdrawal and depression, changes
which disappear during spring and summer.
Although there are many theories about SAD, experts highlight
that production of melatonin, a sleep hormone related to
depression, may increase over winter. Meanwhile, the amount of
serotonin, which is a brain chemical triggered by sunlight, is
thought to increase with the lack of sunlight.
As there is evidence that light intensity and temperature also
may play a role in developing SAD the related depression can
vary. It is also known that the percentage of people with
affective disorder increases with increasing latitude, as
shorter days seem to trigger symptoms.
There exist several ways to treat SAD and experts think that the
first approach should be light therapy. But patients with
seasonal depression may respond better to treatment when the
therapy is combined with medication.
Article written by Hector Milla, editor of ::
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Article written by Hector Milla, editor of ::
DepressionsTreatments.com :: visit for
Depression
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