Hey everybody.
Today I'm going to talk with you about,
Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Otherwise known as SAD.
What is it?
More importantly,
What causes it?
And then, what can we do to make it better / go away?
So like I said,
Today I want to talk with you about SAD.
And I'm just going call it SAD from now on.
Which, whoever figured out that Seasonal Affective Disorder short was SAD,
Is like, this was so easy.
Because what Seasonal Affective Disorder is,
Is kind of what it sounds like.
But it is when we have depressive symptoms.
Only at a certain time of year.
Now the way that SAD works,
Is when the seasons change, our mood tends to change.
And so, for most people,
This happens in the winter months.
It will start kind of in fall, mid fall.
And it will go all of the way through until spring.
So, really,
Depending on where you live.
That can be a really long period of time.
Now I have a few notes.
But the way that SAD is different from major depression,
Now if you remember,
Major Depression has symptoms like,
Anhedonia.
Where you don't really enjoy activities like you used to.
You could have a worse appetite or a greater appetite.
You're sleep could be disturbed.
There can be a lot of things like that that go on.
Now the difference between depression and SAD,
Is that SAD has a,
Mainly,
Oversleeping.
So depression has over or under sleeping.
Some people have insomnia.
Some people sleep too much.
Now with SAD they say that the majority of people struggle with oversleeping.
Irritability.
Low energy.
Weight gain.
Appetite changes.
Which I'm assuming attribute to the weight gain.
And feeling hypersensitive to rejection.
Now you can see how that is a little bit different than depression.
And this is because SAD is actually a sub-type under Major Depressive Disorder.
We're talking DSM and how they diagnose.
You have depression symptoms.
However they only occur seasonally.
And the way that it presents itself is a little bit different.
So more importantly, what causes SAD?
Now just like any mental disorder,
The known cause, we can't say that we know a cause.
Everything in mental illness is theorised.
And they have these theories and 'causes' based on research,
As well as studies that they have done.
And they kind of put all of that data together and figure out that they,
Well they have realised that there are three factors,
That have created SAD in a lot of people.
And the three most common factors that we find are,
Circadian Rhythms.
Now Circadian Rhythms are what keeps us kind of in our sleep wake jive.
We wake up at certain times.
And we get tired at certain times.
You know like,
Around 10:30 I'm always like,
'Huh, it's time for bed.'
And then if I don't set my alarm,
I wake up around 8, 8:30.
Sometimes 9.
Depending on how much sleep I need.
But our body has a rhythm.
And because, they say,
Because SAD is mostly experienced in the fall and winter months.
It is due to the fact that we don't get enough sunlight.
It's dark often when we drive to work.
Sometimes we stay indoors all day.
And then it's dark when we drive home.
We don't actually get any natural light for much of our day.
And that can throw our Circadian Rhythm off.
Now the second that they have attributed SAD to is,
Serotonin Levels.
Now Serotonin as we know honestly from anti-depressants,
And just talk of medication.
We know Serotonin and Dopamine are in our brains.
And these are chemicals and hormones that kind of help keep us happy, sad,
It affects our mood.
And these chemicals can really affect how we feel day to day.
Now due to the fact that we may not be getting enough sunlight.
Serotonin levels have been shown to drop.
And so when they go down,
Our mood goes down.
Now the third and final factor that they say affects us,
And can create Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Is Melatonin Levels.
Now for any of you who don't know what Melatonin is,
It's a natural, I don't,
It's a natural thing that occurs in our body,
That helps us go to sleep.
It helps us stay asleep.
Helps us get the rest that our body needs.
And due to the same factors from the others,
Because we're not getting enough sunlight,
And our body's kind of off.
It's not producing enough Melatonin.
And it can really affect our mood negatively.
So finally,
If we find ourselves struggling with this.
What do we do to get better?
Now obviously I'm always going to tell you,
If this is something that you feel is happening to you,
If you notice when it gets darker earlier,
Around fall, into the winter.
That your mood goes down.
And you feel depressed more often than not.
Please please please see your doctor.
Your therapist.
Your psychiatrist.
Whoever you have as far as a treatment team goes.
Reach out to one of them and seek help.
Because one of the number one things that they recommend that we do,
As you can tell from the causes.
Is we don't get enough sunlight.
So what do we do?
We can actually purchase what is known as a light box.
Now they used to have these at Costco in the States.
And they were actually pretty cheap.
And they were really high quality.
But I don't know if they still have them any more.
And so what I would recommend you do,
Is ask your physician which ones they would recommend.
Because we want to make sure that we are getting one that actually works.
It's doing what it's supposed to do.
Because light boxes aren't just like me shining a flash light in my eye.
It's not about getting light on my face.
It recreates natural light.
And there are certain types of bulbs.
And certain types of UV,
I'm sure there are a lot of things in play.
So make sure you speak to your physician.
Make sure you're getting the right one.
Now the second thing is medication.
And many psychiatrists and doctors will prescribe anti-depressants.
And if they know that this is a trend.
And is something that you go through every year.
They will start the medication a few weeks before you actually exhibit symptoms.
Because as we know,
Anti-depressants can take weeks for you to feel the affect.
And so that will stave off the SAD.
So that you can get on your anti-depressants for lets say four months.
And then they will titrate you off.
So in the spring and summer,
You're not on it.
And then maybe in the fall you go back on again.
Now the third and final option is Psychotherapy.
Like if you came to see me.
Now the most,
I made some notes for this one,
Because I wanted to make sure that I mentioned every bit of this.
So, the therapy that I would recommend,
Based on what is going on with Seasonal Affective Disorder is CBT.
Because we want to identify and change our negative thoughts and behaviours,
That sometimes can keep us in that depressive state.
It can help us ruminate on the negativity versus focusing on the positive.
And that could, you know, be adding to our Seasonal Affective Disorder.
It could make it last longer.
It could make it start earlier.
Or go later.
It can really affect our mood.
And obviously we're going to want to work on learning new coping skills.
If we don't want to take medication.
And we haven't found a light box that's working.
What are things we can do?
We can get outside.
I know it may be really cold.
And it may be windy.
And it may be snowing.
You may be in a blizzard.
I don't know.
But if there is light out,
Even if it's kind of is diffused.
And there's lots of clouds.
Bundle up.
Get yourself out there.
Maybe go for a little walk.
Even if you can just sit on a park bench for ten minutes,
And just let yourself soak up the sun.
It can really help.
Also exercise.
Going for a walk.
Going for a run.
Maybe walking your dog.
You're offering to walk a friend's dog.
Getting out and moving can really help our mood.
And as always,
Making sure we are getting plenty of sleep.
Making sure that we are eating healthy.
All of these things can really affect how we feel.
And those are things that we have control over.
And that we can work on.
Because we're working together, right.
You and me.
As we take one step at a time.
Towards a healthy mind.
And a healthy body.
So click below for my video on CBT therapy,
If you want to know more about that.
Also, click on my video about depression.
Because like I said,
SAD is a sub type of depression.
And the more we know,
The better.
Right.
And don't forget to check out katimorton.com
There is tons of support going on there.
So many great people.
Everyone helping each other.
It's a really great community that we're growing.
And as always,
Don't forget to subscribe.
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