DO YOU SUFFER FROM SEASONAL DEPRESSION?

If your mood is affected by seasonal changes, it's possible that you could be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Netcare Mental Wellness and Compassion Coach, Sandy Lewis sheds some light

- THOBEKA PHANYEKO

IF YOU EXPERIENCE THE SAME SYMPTOMS EVERY YEAR with the change of season, this could point to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The condition is now known as Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Patterns according to the DSM 5 – the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders as published by the American Psychiatric Association. “According to the DSM 5, it is considered to be a subtype of Bipolar Mood Disorder, known as Bipolar Mood Disorder with Seasonal Pattern. Essentially, these refer to the change in seasons that creates environmental triggers for mood switches in the brain and can result in the onset of a major depressive episode, a bipolar episode (either depression or mania) or the recurrence of such episodes, according to the US National Institute of Health,” explains Sandy. She adds that in order to be diagnosed with this kind of disorder, the episode of illness should recur at exactly the same time, coinciding with the change in seasons, for at least two years.

G: What are some of the risk factors?

SL: People who already have been known to be vulnerable to mood disorders are particularly at risk. This is because seasonal changes alter brain chemistry. In winter, it is the lack of light that causes the problem, the brain produces more melatonin and less serotonin, which can result in the symptoms of depression emerging. In spring and summer, it is the opposite – the increased light reduces melatonin and increases serotonin to the point of inducing mania in some people.

Thus, anyone with known delicate brain chemistry and a history of mood disorder is at risk. In winter, people far from the equator are most at risk, and in summer those very close to the equator are.