Seasonal depressive disorder is often named as SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder.
What is it really behind seasonal affective disorder? What causes it? What are the treatments available, and who gets affected by it? Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is also known as winter depression or winter blues- another type of affective disorder that is connected with the seasons.
This mood disorder usually starts in the fall or early winter and ends in late spring or early summer.
According to Mayoclinic.
com, there is a rare form of SAD and this is called summer SAD.
Summer SAD usually starts in late spring and ends during the fall.
As stated by this source, there is around four to six percent cases of SAD patients in the population Signs and symptoms go away and come back at the same period of each year.
Some people experiences SAD at the beginning of spring or even summer.
Winter-onset SAD symptoms may include depression, feeling of hopelessness, social withdrawal, oversleeping, unexplained anxiety, loss of interest in the usual activities once liked and enjoyed, alteration in appetite, particularly some cravings carbohydrate-rich foods, increase in weight, inability to concentrate and process information.
Summer-onset SAD symptoms may include persistent and unusual anxiety, difficulty in sleeping, irritable behavior, unusual agitation, decrease in weight, depressed appetite, increased sexual appetite.
In some patients, spring and summer can bring on symptoms of mental hyperactivity or mania or sometimes, a milder form of mania or hypomania.
These can include persistently elevated behavior, unusual unexplained agitation, and hyperactive thinking and speech.
Reverse SAD is a form of bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is an event in which people experience abnormally elevated moods followed by abnormal depression for periods of time in such a way that these sudden mood shifts affects normal functioning.
  The clues that may point to the presence of reverse SAD may include euphoria or unusually persistently elevated mood, increase in social interaction, unexplained hyperactivity, uncontrolled behavioral reactions out of proportion to the situation.
Like other types of depression, Women are the most affected by SAD rather than men.
It may begin in adolescence or early adulthood.
The origin is unknown, but it is related to underlying factors such as age, genetics, ambient light, body temperature, and hormonal regulations.
Specific factors such as disruption of your biological clock (circadian rhythm-wake/sleep cycle) caused by reduced sunlight in fall or winter may lead to feeling of depression, disruption during change of season of natural hormone melatonin levels which plays a role in sleep patterns and mood; and a drop in serotonin levels, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) which declines in reduced sunlight that affects mood plays a role in SAD.
SAD responds well to medical treatment such as phototherapy, antidepressant medications, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and psychotherapy.
Must seek help from health provider when early symptoms appear, and treatment must be taken seriously before condition worsens that may lead to suicidal thoughts or behavior, social withdrawal, school or work problems, and substance abuse.
It can help to treat this disorder by making your environment sunnier and brighter, get outside the house and talk with friends and other relatives, most importantly, healthy well-balanced diet and regular physical exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety.
Living a healthy lifestyle and being fit will make you feel good about yourself which increases your self-esteem and endorphins (happy hormone being released during exercise or any physical exertions) resulting to good mood and happy living.