Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a disorder in which a person typically becomes depressed in the winter months, however in some cases, an individual can become depressed during the summer months. During these depressed months, the person experiences all of the symptoms of depression. When these months begin to alternate, the symptoms disappear until the next ‘down season.’ While it is a fairly new and unknown disorder, it can be diagnosed and has a list of treatments. This disorder can be cured by a variety of options, ranging from using a light box therapy to medicines and even to simply going outdoors. Possible causes of SAD are multitudinous.“The specific cause of seasonal affective disorder remains unknown,” (MayoClinic 4). MayoClinic says that there are three main possible causes to seasonal affective disorder. The first of the likely causes is your circadian rhythm. Scientists have said that, because of the lack of light during the winter months, your circadian rhythm may be disrupted, causing depression. In addition to …show more content…
There are many different treatments for seasonal affective disorder, some of which may or may not seem slightly ridiculous. Light therapy is a very common ‘cure’ for SAD. In light therapy, you sit in front of a harshly lit box which resembles sunlight for a couple of hours. This method luckily has limited side effects that do not often occur. In addition to light therapy, you could also use medication. If symptoms are severe, many will turn to anti-depression drugs. Lastly, an easy-to-achieve treatment is to get outdoors! By getting active and leaving the house, you are forcing yourself to go into the sunlight, a lack of which appears to be the cause of the depression in the first place. You could take a vacation to a sunnier and warmer place, open the windows, socialize, and exercise to keep yourself busy. Not only does it give you something to do when you’re ‘down in the dumps,’ it also is proven to
It is only recently that the distinct neurological effects associated with the shortening of the day in winter have been more clearly understood. One interesting example of mood change associated with seasonal change is Seasonal Affective Disorder. While Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD) is interesting in itself as a long-suffered from but only recently labeled illness, it is perhaps most interesting as an illustrative example of the complex interplay between neurological processes and the environment. The study of Seasonal Affective Disorder provides fasci...
Depression brings people down to a joyless state in which they do not see the positive side of any concept. However, with proper medications and treatments, they can be brought back to normal emotion levels. Lets begin by giving the description given in the DSM-IV-TR on Major Depressive Disorder. The DSM states “five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.” (APA, 2000) The American Psychiatric Association also states that the symptoms do not include those symptoms, which are due to a general medical condition or hallucinations or mood-incongruent delusions. The symptoms that the DSM discusses are the following:
In the summer of 2013 I experienced nine days of the pure Alaskan terrain alongside one-hundred or so fellow cadets, learning about teamwork and leadership that would aid me in my future endeavors; or so said the forms my parents all-too-willingly signed, and I reluctantly and with careful uncertainty did so as well. I was an excellent cadet—involved in all community service opportunities as possible, participating in all color guard presentations possible, and dedicating two extra hours in my mornings to drilling my feet sore for the sake of maintaining the Eagle River High School’s reputable drill team status. But my one deficiency that grayed my instructor’s heads and made me appear less accomplished with my missing ribbons that were on my peers’ uniforms was my avoidance of any and all wilderness activities. “Winter Survival Where You Get To Freeze All Night And Have To Walk A Mile To The Bathroom And Make Sure You Bring A Buddy And A Flashlight?” I think not. “Summer Leadership School With No Showers And Porta-Potties And Wild Bears Ransacking Your Personal Belongings?” I’ll enjoy the comforts of my home, thank you very much.
Depression is an incredibly serious matter that affects many people around the world. It is fairly common for many people to experience depression in some sort of way after a tragic event, such as the death of a family member or the severing of a long-term relationship. In fact, some may argue that these feelings are indeed appropriate for the time being. However, for some individuals, these feelings of despair and stress can last for weeks at a time or longer. While some who are not dealing with depression may interpret the feelings and the mindset of those who are struggling with major depression as a case of “the blues”, depression is undoubtedly a serious condition when left to itself without any type of support or medication. Depression
Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...
There are various types of treatments for this mental illness. For example, the different types of treatments are getting a therapist, exercising, and lifestyle changes. According to Heath Guides, “ Talking through your depression with a mental health expert (called psychotherapy) helps many people. For some, it works as well as taking antidepressants. In fact, for mild to moderate depression, talk therapy may be your best option”. It takes time to find the perfect treatment that will help that particular person with depression, because everyone is
During the winter, many of us suffer from "the winter blues", a less severe form of seasonal depression than SAD. Still others are sufferers have an already existent condition, such as pre-menstrual syndrome or depression, which is exacerbated by the coming of the winter. (2). In general, many people suffer from some form of sporadic depression during the wintertime. We may feel more tired and sad at times. We may even gain some weight or have trouble getting out of bed. Over 10 million people in America, however, may feel a more extreme form of these symptoms. They may constantly feel lethargic and depressed to an extent that social and work related activities are negatively affected. This more extreme form of the "winter blues" is SAD. Typical SAD symptoms include sugar cravings, lethargy, depression, an increase in body weight, and a greater need for sleep (1). Onset of these symptoms usually occurs in October or November, and the symptoms disappear in early spring. Frequently, people who suffer from SAD react strongly to variations in the amount of light in their surrounding environment. Most often, patients who suffer from SAD and live at more northern latitudes note that the more north they live, the more distinct and severe their SAD symptoms become. In addition, SAD patients note that their depressive symptoms increase in severity when the amount of light indoors decreases and the weather is cloudy.
Do you ever feel down and out? Fill yourself loosing interest in thing you used to love? Then you might have depression. Depression is a period of time in which you feel sad. I know you are saying to yourself you are just a little down, but depression is a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often unable to live in a normal way. There are multiple types of depression, that effects your mental state in various ways.
Depression is defined as "a state of despondency marked by feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness" (Coon, 2001). Some people can mix up depression with just having the blues because of a couple of bad days or even weeks. It is already said that depression affects about one sixth of the population or more (Doris, Ebmeier, Shajahan, 1999). Depression can happen in any age range from birth to death. The cause of depression is still obscure and becoming clear that a number of diverse factors are likely to be implicated, both genetic and environmental. Some causes are leading stressful lives, genetic factors, a previous depressive episode, and the personality trait neuroticism (Doris, et al., 1999).
The exact causes of depression seem to differ immensely, but there are some who believe that it maybe caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that it may even be hereditary. Still there are others who believe that it is a combination of social, biological, emotional, psychological, and economical influences that may cause someone who has no family history of depression to develop even a mild case of depression.
...appen to anyone. The person can experience feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, unacceptance, withdrawal, and thoughts of suicide. There is no exact cause and there is no prescribed cure. Depression seems to be caused by life situations and if the symptoms of depression seem to last more than two weeks then it is classified as Major Depressive Disorder. Symptoms of SAD will resemble Major Depressive Disorder. There are many treatments for Major Depression Disorder but how good the treatment works depends on the person.
Depression is a mood disorder involving disturbances in emotion (excessive sadness), behavior (loss of interest in one’s usual activities), cognition (thoughts of hopelessness), and body function (fatigue and loss of appetite) (Wade, Tavris 567). Most people don’t even know when depression is happening to them. It usually takes friends, family, or even doctors to notice the symptoms of depression within somebody they know. People that are depressed have the tendency to describe their mood as gloomy, miserable, dreary or uneasy. A lot of victims of depression have additional feelings of worthlessness, doubt, emptiness, pointlessness, unreasonable guilt, boredom, despair, and weakness.
... “Seasonal affective disorder.” nih.gov. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web.
The silent killer that takes lives without warning, punishment, or any sympathy; depression is truly one of the most prominent mental illnesses in the world. Depression is defined as a mental illness inducing a severe and staunch feeling of sadness. The term depressed is coined in English as a temporary sadness that everyone experiences in their life. Despite that depression is more active in women, it is still one of the most common mental illnesses in the world. It affects anybody, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic standing. Regardless of all these facts, surprisingly little is known about depression, however, scientists have been able to hypothesize major causes, effects, and treatments for the disability affecting over
Depression isn’t just a state of being, or someone’s mood. There are different types of depression, and each of those types have their own lists of symptoms and treatments, all similar but they have some differences.