As the days get darker earlier, and the nights become colder, many begin to experience S.A.D……or Seasonal Affective Disorder. This meaning a whole season can put a person into a serious depression? How can that be? The causes behind S.A.D. are still unknown, but the symptoms of which come along with it are the same as those that come along with depression. According to Live Science, SAD 1 to 10 percent of the population each year.
Studies have been done on Seasonal Affective Disorder and it is interesting to note the findings.
A study done by Am J Psychiatry observed four Canadian centers over three winter seasons. Patients who were chosen for the study had major depressive disorder with a winter pattern and had > or = 23 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The patients were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of a double-blind treatment with different lux light treatment, one being 10,000-lux light with a placebo capsule, or one with 100-lux light treatment with 20mg/day of fluoxetine. The treatment was applied for 30 minutes each day in the morning. A totally of 96 patients were assigned to a random treatment condition. There was no difference between the treatments over time. Post hoc testing found that light-treated patients had better improvement at one week but not at other time points where as Fluoxetine treatment had a greater treatment as far as agitation, sleep disturbance, and palpitation. However, both came to the conclusion there were no significant differences between light therapy and anti-depressant medication, and since it was limited by a double-blind condition, as we know from class, it makes the study’s conclusions more reliable.
This study definitely shows the symptoms of SAD. Researchers found that there is no difference between this medication and fluorescent lights. However, there is also a chance there could be other meds that could work. The study is missing a key piece of information because it never addresses what kind of light therapy is being used. It would be interesting if there was a study done in comparison to light where researchers analyzed the difference between sunlight and artificial light. This would tell the researchers whether artificial light could work as substitute for sunlight during the winter months. Therefore, the theory that both these treatments work is weakened, as we don’t know if there could be better methods to deal with the symptoms of sad.
While it’s suggested that light therapy and anti-depressant medication would work, there is nothing firm saying either of these methods are going to cure the disorder. As many suffer from sad, they begin a pill craze where they take as many anti-depressants as they can. According to WebMD, about 1 in 10 Americans takes an antidepressant. It would be interesting to do a study on what antidepressant medications are so popular and why.
And now, you are still left with a compelling question of why do some experience this then? And as of now we don’t know. The scientific explanation as to why just hasn’t been found yet. But, hopefully it will be soon.
This post caught my attention because I know a lot of people with this type of disorder. Since I live in Philadelphia area, I experience all four seasons. I have a few friends who moved there from places California, and Mexico. These places don’t really experience cold weather like we do. I could tell that during the winter months they seemed sad and not like themselves. This post was well written and you explained the facts clearly and to the point. I recently posted a blog that was about the relationship between the month you were born and your health, and I mentioned SAD. Here is the link! http://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/11/30/who-will-survive-summer-babies-or-winter-babies/
I have always wondered if something like this really does have a great affect on peoples bodies and feelings. Coming from Los Angeles, this is a concern that I have due to the fact that we do not have seasons and peoples conception of a “cold” winter day is about 50 degrees. The mayo clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/basics/causes/con-20021047, stated that the causes of SAD are your biological clock gets disrupted due to changing weather conditions causing depressed moods, ones serotonin levels drop, which is the chemical in the brain that affects ones mood, and ones melatonin levels change causes sleep patterns and moods to greatly be affected. Your studies seem very reliable especially due to the fact they are double blind placebo where third variables cannot be an attribute of the study. Also young females are more likely to have this disorder affect them.
The picture you associated with your blog originally caught my attention because my mom always said how, living in a town where all four seasons occurs, has affected her. She constantly had vitamin D pills and “happy lights” around the house for the winter season because she was so persistent on believing that her mood changed during the cold and more gloomy times. Because of this, I found your blog interesting and thought you did a good job opening the discussion, and answering what SAD really is. However, the paragraph about the study by “I Am Psychiatry” was a bit confusing, like how the study showed no significant difference while also showing presence of SAD. I reread it and understood the experiment concept better, but was not complete sure about the conclusion of the study until I read the first sentence of the next paragraph. Then after reading even further, I understood how there was no correlation with the anti-depressants/light therapy, and why people suffered from SAD is still unknown. Overall, good topic and I enjoyed the read!