About What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder: What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

What is seasonal affective disorder? Who can suffer from it? Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder

It is a fact that everything from food to technology to climate is changing with time' and these changes can affect the normal lifestyle' behavior and health of humans. Due to these changes' what we see and hear today is that most people suffer from various types of illnesses and infirmities' and their impacts can differ from person to person.

One such illness is Seasonal Affective Disorder' which is also known as SAD or winter depression. It is a mood disorder that can be classified as a form of depression caused as a result of changes in the seasons' climate' daylight and temperature. This article is aimed at explaining what Seasonal Affective Disorder is' what causes it' and the possible treatment methods that could be followed in order to alleviate it.

You might have observed some odd behavior from the people you associate during winter seasons. Others turn moody in the summer. The reason for this is that the changes in the climate pose a serious effect on their health' and hence they suffer from it. In other words' SAD is a mood disorder that depends on the weather. It affects seemingly normal people' showing symptoms of depression and misery. This disorder can occur in cycles as the seasons change. This is because the hours of daylight change according to the season. (i.e. daylight is less in winters)There are two types of Seasonal Affective Disorders. One is Classic SAD' which is that mood disorder and depression caused because of the winter (winter depression) and the summer (summer depression)' and the other is Reverse SAD' which is a condition of having a mania (opposite of depression) or hypomania during the summer period.

What causes SAD? Well' the answer for this question still remains unknown. However' what experts believe is that sunlight is a necessary element in the formation of some key hormones. There are three main elements that may account for onset of SAD and they are:

Serotonin

Melatonin

One’s circadian rhythm

Some of the symptoms of Winter SAD are loss of energy' oversleeping' weight gain' changes in appetite' and depression. Increased sex drive' insomnia' weight loss and agitation are some symptoms of Summer SAD. Symptoms of Reverse SAD include hyperactivity' constant hyper moods and increased social activity.SAD can be a very damaging form of illness if it is left untreated. A person with chronic SAD could go to the extent of engaging in substance abuse and social detachment. Problems at work or school and even suicidal thoughts and behavior is common in victims.

However' this could be treated by way of light therapy' psychotherapy' medication' ionized-air administration and the timed adding-on of melatonin into the body. Summary – This article is a brief introduction to Seasonal Affective Disorder. It goes in to list the symptoms' possible causes and also likely forms of treatment.