Hello, friends! This post is for the paid subscribers of the Substack (or you can use your free preview). I always want to make sure I’m adding extra value to those of you that help keep this machine running, so every so often, I’d like to do an exclusive Q&A. If you have a question that you’d like me to address in a future post, feel free to comment it below!
I got the following question from a supporter:
Seasonal Affective Disorder is an amazing topic, and one that I have not done a recent literature review on, so thank you for the prompt! In this post, I will define Seasonal Affective Disorder and provide an update on the current research-supported means of coping with it.
Why am I so SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) refers to depression that follows a pattern in which mood episodes coincide with particular times of the year. Fall and winter are common seasons for SAD to rear its head, but technically, it could be any time of the year that consistently gives you the blues. In the DSM 5, there is not a specific seasonal affective disorder classification, but rather various disorders, such as depression or bipolar can have the specifier: with a seasonal pattern. For the purposes of this post, when I say SAD, I’ll be speaking about major depression with a seasonal pattern.
Another interesting point is that SAD does not apply to cases where there is an identifiable change or stressor outside of the season itself that causes the depression. For example, if you are unemployed every winter, your depressed feelings may simply be an understandable reaction to that hardship. SAD also requires for the mood symptoms to ease up during the other times of the year (e.g., depressed in the winter and much less depressed in the summer).
Last thing I’ll clarify before diving into the causes and treatments is that to qualify for the diagnosis, two major depressive episodes need to have occurred during the specific season over the course of the last two years. Seasonal depressive episodes also must substantially outnumber episodes that have happened outside of that season.
