Anamika Vajpeyi Clinical Psychologist

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00:00A lot is happening in the social circle, so people travel a lot during summer, so those

00:05who stay back in the country might have reduced social interaction, they don't have any outdoor

00:10experiences.

00:12There's a lot of indoor sitting that happens, and that also leads to changes in schedules,

00:18routines, changes in appetite, which might then lead to the mood changes, changes in

00:24self-confidence.

00:26A lot of my clients actually report that they experience continued dull headaches,

00:33they experience fatigue, they don't feel like interacting socially or going out because

00:38it's just too hard.

00:44Hi, my name is Anamika, I'm a clinical psychologist and a psychiatric social worker by profession.

00:50I've been in UA for over 20 years, and have worked in a variety of settings, clinical

00:56settings, higher education, I recently was heading a program for social work and counselling

01:01at high colleges of technology, and it's a pleasure to be on this interview.

01:08What is seasonal affective disorder?

01:11So as the word suggests, season, as in winter, summer, affect stands for the mood or the

01:18general feeling that a person might be having, and disorder is when there's a disruption

01:23in this state of affect because of weather.

01:27So seasonal affective disorder is a disorder where the mood or affect is disturbed because

01:33of prolonged season or extreme weather condition.

01:37With global warming, we are seeing more and more extreme weather conditions in various

01:40countries, and so seasonal affective disorder, also known as major depressive disorder with

01:45seasonal affect and DSM-5TR, is becoming a concern.

01:50It is a condition where when there is a prolonged bitter weather condition, people might feel

01:58a bit more fatigued, might feel low mood or even depressed, there might be a change in

02:04their appetite, change in sleeping pattern, they might feel a sense of isolation, or might

02:10deliberately isolate themselves, there might be more fatigue, change in moods often, increased

02:19or decreased appetite.

02:20So these symptoms, when begin to interfere with functionality of a person and create

02:26disturbance, it's suitable to get a diagnosis from a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist.

02:34What is the difference between summer and winter SAD?

02:38So seasonal affective disorder remains the same, it's just experienced differently in

02:42colder countries and countries with hot climates such as UAE.

02:46So what happens in cold countries such as Poland or Switzerland, people experience long

02:51cold weather during which their social mobility decreases, they have reduced social interaction,

02:58they might see changes in their schedule, their circadian rhythms might be disturbed,

03:03and that might result in changes in the sleep routine, appetite, confidence, it can lead

03:08to weight gain, isolation, depressive thoughts and so on.

03:13Now if you consider something similar happens in hot countries, we have prolonged summer,

03:18during summer months people are unable to go out for long, their sun exposure goes down.

03:25Many times my colleagues in medicine tell me that they have seen patients having increased

03:32number of vitamin D deficiencies during these months.

03:36In addition to that, a lot is happening in the social circle, so people travel a lot

03:41during summer, so those who stay back in the country might have reduced social interaction,

03:47they don't have any outdoor experiences, there's a lot of indoor sitting that happens and that

03:53also leads to changes in schedules, routines, changes in appetite, which might then lead

04:00to the mood changes, changes in self-confidence.

04:04A lot of my clients actually report that they experience continued dull headaches,

04:11they experience fatigue, they don't feel like interacting socially or going out because

04:16it's just too hot.

04:18So all these symptoms are then correlating to the symptoms which are described in DSM-5TR

04:25as seasonal affective disorder.

04:27Now I'm not saying everybody who experiences these symptoms might be suffering from SAD,

04:31but what I am saying is if any of these symptoms is interfering with a person's functionality

04:38or causing any kind of disturbance, then it's worth checking with a mental health professional

04:43such as a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist.

04:46How do you treat SAD?

04:48So SAD is treatable.

04:50Let's consider symptoms which would range from mild to moderate to severe.

04:55So for mild symptoms, ensuring that one follows a strict routine, a daily routine might really

05:02help.

05:03In addition to that, early morning meditation which would give some sun exposure and enhance

05:07vitamin D levels might be suggested.

05:11Spending time with indoor gardening is something that I would always suggest to my clients

05:17because microbes in the soil actually have proven to help elevating the mood.

05:23In addition to that, meditation, yoga, exercise, these kinds of physical activities really

05:30help because they do a couple of things.

05:32They enhance your positive hormones, happy hormones as they're called.

05:37They might also help a person have a schedule and they improve the self-confidence of the

05:46person.

05:47So overall it has a lot of positive impact.

05:49In addition to that, I would highly recommend ensuring your vitamin D levels are up so for

05:54that you can have blood tests to ensure that your vitamin D levels are as suggested or

06:00recommended by the medical professionals.

06:04Having a good sleep routine is really important because what happens during summer, the kids

06:08have summer vacation, a lot of people take their annual break during this time and that

06:13might lead to a disruption in their daily routine, especially the sleep.

06:19So ensure that you get seven hours of sleep every day within the recommended hours like

06:25during night, not sleeping throughout the day and being awake all through the night

06:29that might actually disturb the circadian rhythm.

06:33In addition to that, I would say spending some time at the night outdoors might be a

06:38good replacement of not being able to go out in the morning during the summer months.

06:43So going for a night swim or a walk in the night or spending some time closer to the

06:49nature might be a good way to improve the overall mental health.

06:54One thing I definitely would like to say is untreated SAD can lead to major depressive

06:59symptoms.

07:00So if anybody listening to this has experienced any such symptoms during the summer months,

07:06it is highly recommended that they see a mental health professional.

07:13For more information visit www.FEMA.gov

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