Summer SAD sufferers report depression, weight loss, insomnia, anxiety, agitation and poor appetite.
Who May Be at Risk?
Those who have already been diagnosed with bipolar disorder may become manic in the summer and experience depression in the winter. While some down days are normal, having the feeling for days or weeks at a time is not. That’s when it may be time to consult a doctor, particularly if sleep patterns have changed.
Although research has still not identified a cause for seasonal affective disorder, the following issues may be involved:
- Interruptions in circadian rhythm - Sometimes referred to as an internal biological clock, circadian rhythms are generally governed by your body’s reaction to daytime and nighttime. Thus, the reduced time of days in the winter may be the trigger for seasonal affective disorders and its accompanying depression.
- Serotonin levels - Brain chemistry may be affected by reduced sunlight. Serotonin is a vital neurotransmitter, and lowering its levels may trigger depression.
- Melatonin levels - This is a hormone that increases in darkness and lessens as it gets lighter. The changing of the seasons may disrupt its normal progression, which can, in turn, affect sleeping patterns and increase agitation.
- Being female - Women experience seasonal affective disorder more than men, but men have more severe symptoms when they do get it.
- Age - Young people are at higher risk of winter seasonal affective disorder.
- Existing clinical depression or being bipolar - These seem to get worse during seasonal affective disorder periods in those who already have depression or other mental episodes.