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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): The Basics
You may notice you�re feeling blue. You�re not quite as chipper as you used to be. You try to ignore these feelings, figuring
the cold weather of winter is just beginning to bring you down. Well,
you�re half right. Winter
seems sometimes to get the best of us, especially if you live in the colder
climates. The days are shorter
and the nights are longer � and there�s the crux of your problems. Those
short days and long nights may trigger feelings of not only depression and
fatigue, but also lethargy and other health problems. While you may be
tempted to ignore these feelings, there are times, if they are severe enough
to disrupt your daily activities, that you really shouldn�t. You
may be one of the 10 million Americans who suffer with seasonal affective
disorder � appropriately known by its initials SAD. It�s a type of
depression and if left untreated can seriously disrupt your daily life.
However, there are simple remedies that can lessen the symptoms. Technically,
SAD is actually a subtype of a major depressive episode.
The classic symptoms of depression include a decreased appetite,
problems sleeping, a poor appetite and a corresponding loss in weight.
Recognized in the DSM-IV, The
American Psychiatric Association�s diagnostic manual, SAD affects more
women than men. About
70 to 80 percent of those affected with seasonal affected disorder are
women. Most people first
develop this depression when they�re in their 30s, but some children have
also been found to be affected by this disorder. Some
health experts estimate that for every person who is actually diagnosed with
a �full blown� case of SAD, there are many more people who have a milder
case of SAD whose symptoms have not been diagnosed.
As you might expect, the incidence of SAD increases the farther north
one travels. But, this trend
doesn�t continue all the way up to the North Pole. Unlike
many disorders, this one may indeed be geographical in nature.
But there is no clear cut geographical lines, it seems.
It all depends on the reactions of the individuals. There have been
instances of people who feel fine while they live in Maryland.
When they move to say a more northern city, like Toronto, Canada,
they develop SAD. And the opposite is true as well.
A person who lives in Baltimore, Maryland may be diagnosed with SAD,
but when she moves farther south to Miami her symptoms disappear naturally.
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