What is seasonal affective disorder?

Do you also get sad in the winter? It’s called seasonal affective disorder and it’s more common than you think …

Transcript

00:00So the days are getting shorter. I don't know about you but I struggle a lot with seasonal depression.

00:15It is depression that occurs around the same time a year for people.

00:20Every single year I get seasonal depression and every single year I'm shocked by it.

00:24And so it's most commonly done in the winter low light months where less sunlight, the days are shorter.

00:39This circadian rhythm is thrown off meaning that we're used to many times throughout the year when

00:45we wake up in the morning we wake up with the sun. We release a lot of neurochemicals that get us

00:51going for the day. In these shorter days it's dark outside. It takes a while for my body to get going

00:57and wake up and then we find that we're still at work and the sunlight has already gone down and

01:04we're powering through. So this rhythm kind of gets thrown off with these shorter days and it can mess

01:10with our sleep cycle which we know can have a big impact on our mental health. We can see different

01:16neurochemistry changes because of the lack of sunlight, because of the lack of movement,

01:21because of the lack of social interaction.

01:36All the symptoms of depression are in play in a seasonal type of depression or seasonal

01:42affective disorder. So that could be low mood, sadness most days, low energy, irritability,

01:50difficult being motivated to do things. When you are doing activities that usually give you pleasure

01:56it just doesn't feel as pleasurable. You might see people start to isolate, crying and in some cases

02:03suicidal thoughts. But all these symptoms are parallel that of depression. It's just happening

02:11in a particular time of year.

02:20Even if it's overcast, even if it's cloudy, if you go outside you will still be getting some

02:26level of light exposure. It's really important good for us. Getting out in nature is really good

02:33for our mental health as well. Light lamps now have really picked up in favor which is excellent

02:38because you can own this device in your home that can actually help with your seasonal depression.

02:44Spending time in the morning with the light hitting right on your face can elevate your

02:50mood and help you. Almost all the remedies we would do for depression work for seasonal

02:59affective disorder. Exercise is a big one. We know exercise, even 20 minutes of continuous walking

03:07releases a lot of happy chemicals in our brain, stimulates our whole body and can elevate our mood.

03:13What's wrong with me? Like I've lost my social spark.

03:17Intentionally socializing, getting out of our apartments and our environment,

03:23meeting up with friends. Just the visual acuity of being in a different environment,

03:28getting out has been shown to be good for alleviating symptoms of depression. In the

03:34winter months or in different parts of the year, we start closing in more and may reduce

03:39our social contacts but we need that. We need that to feel good, to feel connected.