As the long summer days fade with the warm weather, many of us start to feel blue. But that sinking feeling can not be just a normal reaction to the cold of winter – for millions is a form of major depression called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. More familiarly, SAD is also called the “winter blues”.
Seasonal affective disorder affects approximately 10 million Americans, and health officials estimate that another 25 million suffer from a mild form of SAD.
In most cases, SAD usually begin in October and last until March or April. Symptoms typically peak in the winter months leading to December, January and February.
About 75 to 80 percent of those who suffer from this disease are women. SAD not usually affect people younger than 20 years. To be officially diagnosed with SAD you must have had symptoms for at least three consecutive years and the symptoms should decrease summer.
Typical symptoms of SAD are similar to symptoms of major depression. They include:
* Depressed mood
* Oversleeping
* Hopelessness
* The lack of energy
* Overeating (especially carbohydrates and sugar) and weight gain
* Feelings guilty
* Memory or attention and focus problems
* Thoughts suicidal
* Social isolation or lack of interest in social interaction
A key feature that distinguishes this form of depression from other forms is an intense need for carbohydrates or sweets. The symptoms are also not bound to a life event such as job loss or loss of a loved one.
What causes seasonal affective disorder?
Doctors are not entirely sure, but the main theory is that the lack of sunlight is to blame. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the long days of darkness in fall and winter affect the secretion of melatonin, which is controlled by the pineal gland in the brain.
Melatonin is responsible for the sleep-wake cycle and other daily rhythms in the body, says the NIMH. When the production of this hormone is affected in the fall and winter, he threw the body from daily rhythms and disrupts
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