For many, this is the time of year when people are gearing up for the holidays and planning winter vacations. It’s a time when the air is charged with the excitement of another year’s passing, and the possibility of new beginnings. But for Sandy Fowler, this is time of year she has to brace herself.
“When the autumn comes, I feel like a bear going into hibernation,” says Fowler. “I start craving carbs, eat all the time, I’m chronically sleepy, and just want to be left alone.”
Fowler’s seasonal symptoms, which also include severe irritability, prompted her to attend a lecture, hosted by the local university, on Seasonal Affective Disorder. She immediately identified herself as a textbook case.
Dr. Michael Wiederman, a professor of Psychology at Columbia College, says SAD is biologically different from other forms of depression. Its “hallmark” is that it’s caused by a patient’s sensitivity to the decrease in light associated with the winter months. This decrease in light, says Wiederman, causes a decrease in serotonin levels, which in turn affects our circadian rhythms, interrupts our sleep cycles, and causes fatigue and depression,
According to the National Institute of Health, more than 35,000,000 Americans suffer from SAD. In 2008, SAD (along with other forms of depression) ranked number seven in USC’s top 10 reported health problems that impede students’ academic performance. With excessive daytime sleepiness and social withdrawal being among its main symptoms, it can damages a student’s ability to thrive during the winter months.
Wiederman says the best way to alleviate the symptoms of SAD is increased exposure to the right kind of light. Although sunlight may be in short supply during the winter months, there are other forms of full-spectrum light available. In addition to light panels, called light boxes, there is also a visor-like device that is worn throughout the day. These sources of light help increase serotonin levels and reset the body’s biological rhythms.
Fowler says the first time she sat in front of a light box, “it felt really good, like I was soaking it in.” She says she has the same response to sunlight, even if it’s a cloudy winter day and the light is diffused.
But even though SAD is easy to treat, it is not as easy to diagnose, says Wiederman.
“Diagnosing SAD is tough because you need to be able to recognize the cyclic pattern of the depression,” he says. In addition, you have to be able to rule out that it isn’t just seasonal blues tied to specific holidays, or a change in lifestyle due to the change in weather.
Some people assume they have seasonal depression because they feel drained and grumpy on rainy days, or down around the holidays, but Wiederman says this isn’t related to the more serious SAD diagnosis. “It’s much more prolonged than that,” he says; it’s not based on day-to-day weather patterns and events.
Unfortunately, says Wiederman, SAD is frequently misdiagnosed as clinical depression because of how closely they mimic each other. Unless a client specifies the seasonal pattern, it will probably be identified as depression; the possibility of SAD is “usually glossed over.” This results in a patient being prescribed an anti-depressant they don’t need, especially during the spring and summer months, when SAD goes into full remission.
Wiederman says if a patient currently taking an anti-depressant feels they have been misdiagnosed, they can work with their doctor to be weaned off of their anti-depressant during the sunny times of year. If they find that they do not need the medication, this can serve as an indicator of SAD.
But he stresses the importance of coming off of the medication slowly because an abrupt change in medication can cause immediate irritability, and other side affects that can also mimic depression.
Fowler says now that she has correctly identified her SAD symptoms and can properly treat them, the quality of her winter months has improved dramatically. Now that she knows the key is getting enough light, she spends 30 minutes each day soaking it in. This therapy gives her the energy she needs-the energy to plan that winter vacation, and face the holidays.
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