Carla K. Johnson — The AAssociated Press
As winter approaches and daylight hours become shorter, people prone to seasonal depression may feel it in their bodies and brains.
“It’s a feeling of panic, fear, anxiety and dread all in one,” said Germaine Pataki, 63, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
She is among the millions of people estimated to suffer from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Her coping strategies include yoga, walking, and antidepressant medication. She is also part of a Facebook group for people with SAD.
“I try to focus on helping others get through it,” Pataki said. “This gives me purpose.”
People with SAD often have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. The changing of clocks to standard time, which occurs this weekend, can be a trigger for SAD. Medical experts recognize a milder form, subsyndromal SAD, and a variety of seasonal summer depression also exists, although less is known about it.
In 1984, a team led by Dr. Norman Rosenthal, then a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, first described seasonal affective disorder and coined the term. “I think because it’s easy to remember, the acronym has stuck,” Rosenthal said.
What causes seasonal affective disorder?
Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes convert the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals that affect mood and alertness.
Sunlight is loaded with blue light, so when cells absorb it, the alert centers in our brain activate and we feel more awake and possibly even happier.
Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without seasonal affective disorder to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with seasonal affective disorder were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during the winter months. That suggests a cause of the winter blues.
“In the winter, when light levels drop, that combined with decreased sensitivity, can be too low for healthy functioning, leading to depression,” Roecklein said.
Miriam Cherry, 50, of Larchmont, New York, said she spent the summer planning how she would deal with her winter blues. “It’s like clockwork,” Cherry said. “The sunlight is low. The day ends at 4:45 and suddenly my mood is horrible.”
Does light therapy help?
Many people with seasonal affective disorder respond to light therapy, said Dr. Paul Desan of Yale University’s Winter Depression Research Clinic.
“The first thing to test is the light,” Desan said. “When we expose patients to bright light for about half an hour every morning, most patients improve dramatically. “We don’t even need medicine.”
The therapy involves devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than normal indoor light.
Research supports using a light of about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness. According to research, you have to use it for 30 minutes every morning. Desan said this can help not only people with seasonal affective disorder, but also those who suffer from less severe winter lethargy.
Special lights cost between $70 and $400. Some products marketed for seasonal affective disorder are too weak to provide significant benefit, Desan said.
Yale has tested products and offers a list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide on how to select the right light.
If your doctor diagnosed you with seasonal affective disorder, check with your insurance company to see if the cost of a light might be covered, Desan suggested.
How about talk therapy or medication?
Antidepressants are a first-line treatment for seasonal affective disorder, along with light therapy. Doctors also recommend maintaining a regular sleep schedule and walking outdoors, even on cloudy days.
The benefits of light therapy may disappear when people stop using it. One type of talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, has been shown in studies to have longer-lasting effects, said University of Vermont researcher Kelly Rohan.
CBT involves working with a therapist to identify and modify unhelpful thoughts.
“A very common thought people have is ‘I hate winter,’” Rohan said. “Reword it to something as simple as ‘I prefer summer to winter,’” he suggested. “It is an objective statement, but it has a neutral effect on mood.”
Working with a therapist can help people take small steps toward having fun again, Rohan said. Try planning undemanding but enjoyable activities to come out of hibernation mode, which “could be as simple as meeting a friend for coffee,” Rohan said.
What else could work?
People with seasonal affective disorder have half the year to create coping strategies, and some have found tricks that work for them, although there may not be much scientific backing.
Elizabeth Wescott, 69, of Folsom, California, believes contrast showers help her. It is an aquatic therapy borrowed from sports medicine that involves alternating hot and cold water while showering. He also uses a light box and takes an antidepressant.
“I’m always looking for new tools,” Wescott said.
Cherry in New York is dedicating a corner of her garden to the first flowers to bloom: snowdrops, winter aconite and hellebores. These bloom already in February.
“That will be a sign to me that this won’t last forever,” Cherry said. “It will get better and spring is on the way.”
