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Friday 29 January 2010

Seasonal affective disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer, spring or autumn, repeatedly, year after year. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), SAD is not a unique mood disorder, but is "a specifier of major depression".

 

SAD affects most people in the winter

 Symptoms

Symptoms of SAD may consist of: difficulty waking up in the morning, tendency to oversleep as well as to overeat, and especially a craving for carbohydrates, which leads to weight gain. Other symptoms include a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating on completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities. All of this leads to the depression, pessimism, and lack of pleasure which characterize a person suffering from this disorder.



A simple cure is to have 
artificial light boxes near where your are daily.


Well if you answered yes to some of the above, your not alone there.
In the UK, about one in 50 people has SAD. The condition affects twice as many women than men. SAD can affect people of any age, but it is most common in those who are between 18-30 years of age.

Like any type of depression, SAD can be a difficult condition to live with. Symptoms can leave you feeling tired, lethargic, stressed and unhappy. However, there are a number of treatments and medications available that have proven to be very effective in treating SAD.

for further details

http://www.sad.org.uk/
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx

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