What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Introduction
Seasonal Affective Disorder is also known as Seasonal Depression. In most parts of the world, most people experience their years through different seasons - spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Many chronic illnesses have varied symptoms throughout the seasons, and S.A.D is actually a symptom of many of these illnesses. I’ve encountered it many times during the initial data collection for new clients and have helped manage it further down the line when it plays a part in managing their chronic illnesses throughout the year. SAD is more potent than you may think. Take note if this is the first you have heard of it - you might find that someone or some people in your inner circle struggle with it also, and you may be able to help them.
Infographic of SAD common symptoms.
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder is centred on how much natural light the human body is getting at any given time. Natural light is an essential component to a person’s health and wellbeing, I’d argue one of the three most important in fact. It is vital to our circadian rhythms, and various processes and releases inside the brain and cells. The less natural light we get, the worse we feel and that is a fact. The more we get, the more likely the chances are that we feel okay – things get worse if we don’t get it, and things stay functional if we do. If we get the light that we need to, we sleep better, work better, feel better, think better, and a whole host of other positive knock-on effects.
SAD is a possible side effect of not getting enough natural light and is why we so often see it prevalent in the late autumn/fall season, and deep in the winter. Those seasons are when the days are shorter and the darkness creeps in sooner. Most commonly, the average person’s work hours mean they leave in the morning in the dark and come back late afternoon in the dark too. Combine that with being indoors all day, probably under unhealthy blue light, and you have a recipe for some serious natural light deficiency. Day by day goes by in that pattern, and it just assaults a person’s mental health by breaking down their processes that need natural light. SAD is no joke, and we can experience some life-altering lows when it is at it’s worst.
One of my closest friends has the worst case of SAD I have ever seen. He also has epilepsy and ADHD, and so when SAD kicks in towards the end of October, those two conditions also get worse. He’s invested in a light-based alarm clock, a lightbox, regularly bikes outdoors even in winter and still gets a severe case of it. Some people are more pre-disposed to getting SAD than others by how much their body’s need the natural light, and some folks don’t need as much. It’s a tough condition to live with, even when you’re doing everything right to help it.
Why is it a bigger problem now?
Seasonal Affective Disorder appears to be more common these days, although perhaps it always has and it’s just reported more now. I’d argue a key component of its growth would be the use of all the screens in our lives. They’re everywhere! Phones, tablets, TVs, and anything else. Devices do have light filters on them, but that doesn’t remove all of the harmful effects – similar to how caffeinated coffee and decaffeinated coffee work, there’s still some caffeine in decaf. I’d also argue that most kids these days spend less time outside, and by effect their parents too. This is based off the high number of parents that have told me this, so I leave that to your own interpretation if you have kids of your own. In general, more time spent inside means less time outside, where the natural light is. Even if its cloudy or raining, you still get buckets of light through the clouds.
Another example of society making SAD more prevalent is any sort of financial crisis. Some people out there work full-time AND have second or even third jobs, so they can feed their families or pay crushing bills. More work usually means more time indoors where there is no natural light. Combine that with a regularly low energy level due to working such long hours to get by, and you have a cycle almost designed to give you a light-based depressive state of living. It's dreadful and extremely hard to get out of when responsible for earning dollar to keep the house warm. Seasonal Affective Disorder can literally creep into any circumstance, and it’s largely why it’s so common now.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the average person gets less natural light than they should do. This could explain why so many people are deficient in energy or struggle to sleep, or why men have lower testosterone now too. Natural light consumption is a factor in many processes, and so if its low we can expect our functionality to drop in all areas. Don’t let this happen and make a point of getting some light into your eyes in the morning via sunlight, a lightbox or something similar. We might be able to beat SAD entirely day by day, but we can do little habits to give ourselves the best possible chance to minimise its effect on our busy lives.
Mark