SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

Seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression, is an affective, or mood, disorder.

Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer.

The condition in the summer is often referred to as Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder.<br><br>Post edited by: Scott_1984, at: 2007/10/20 01:31

What is SAD?: www.sada.org.uk

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every Winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February.

It is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter.

For many people SAD is a seriously disabling illness, preventing them from functioning normally without continuous medical treatment.

For others, it is a mild but debilitating condition causing discomfort but not severe suffering. We call this subsyndromal SAD or 'winter blues.'

What is SAD?: hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/sad.html

Seasonal affective (or mood) disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at particular times, commonly in the winter months.3

Mild forms of SAD are commonly referred to as \&quot;winter blues\&quot; but some people have a more severe form and these people cannot function in winter without treatment.

For most sufferers of SAD, symptoms get worse in the autumn and winter when the days are shorter, and clear up in spring and summer.

People are more vulnerable to SAD the further away they live from the equator as daylight hours become fewer.4

Some people get SAD in the summer months but this is much less common.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy & en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phototherapy#Seasonal_affective_disorder

Light therapy or phototherapy consists of exposure to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, LEDs, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, for a prescribed amount of time. It has proven effective in treating Acne vulgaris, seasonal affective disorder, and for some people it has ameliorated delayed sleep phase syndrome. It has recently been shown effective in non-seasonal depression. Proponents claim demonstrable benefits for skin conditions such as psoriasis and, more controversially, a degree of \&quot;skin rejuvenation.\&quot;

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)- Dr Rob Hicks (BBC-Health):

SAD is a specific type of depression that affects people at the same time each year - autumn and winter. During spring and summer, people with SAD feel well: www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/sad1.shtml

What is SAD?: www.nosad.org

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression which affects millions of people every winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February. SAD is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter. For many people SAD is a seriously disabling illness, preventing them from functioning normally without continuous medical treatment. For others, it is a milder condition, causing discomfort, referred to as sub-syndromal SAD or winter blues. There is also a rare reverse form of SAD, known as summer SAD, where symptoms occur each summer and remit in winter.