Chattanooga Pulse

Being a New Englander originally, I love the changing seasons and I love all kinds of weather.  Nothing too dramatic or harmful, of course—I’ve lived through enough Florida hurricanes to have seen firsthand the destruction Mother Nature is capable of.

During Katrina I remember feeling grateful to have only lost some books and a printer, watching these items float across the bay, then wash ashore in someone else’s back yard a few miles away.  And I’ve survived several sizeable earthquakes during my 20-plus California years, including the Northridge quake that involved “liquefaction.”  This is when the sand in the soil turns to liquid and your house literally sinks.  Entire neighborhoods suffered liquefaction during that rock ’n roll.

But under usual, non-damaging conditions, I enjoy this time of year best, when the leaves begin to turn, there’s a fireplace-worthy crispness in the air, and it’s time to break out the winter sweaters.  And unlike Betty the wonderpup, I even enjoy rainstorms, because when the sun finally breaks through, it’s that much more appreciated.

It’s common, however, for many of us to get the blues during the dark days of winter.  And for some, the feelings of depression that come during those cold and dreary months can seem overwhelming.  For these folks, the depression they experience is very real, and left untreated, can become quite severe.  If this sounds like you, don’t be too quick to brush off that yearly feeling as simply a case of the “winter blues” or a seasonal funk that you have to tough out on your own. You may have “seasonal affective disorder”.

First defined in 1984, seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a cyclic, seasonal condition.  This means that it occurs at the same time every year.  Usually, seasonal affective disorder symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer.  Although more rare, some people have the opposite pattern and become depressed with the onset of spring or summer.  In either case, problems start out mild and become more severe as the season progresses, sapping your energy and making you feel, at the very least, moody and unmotivated.

There are a few theories about what causes SAD.  Among these include melatonin, a hormone that our brains naturally produce during the hours of darkness.  It is involved with regulation of sleep, body temperature and more.  As with any hormone, the amount produced is important.

People with SAD produce too much melatonin.  This disrupts their internal body clock leading to depressive symptoms, which I’ll outline in a minute.  If you have had episodes of depression that clearly have an onset in fall or winter followed by remission of symptoms in the spring or summer, I encourage you to discuss SAD with your therapist or physician.

Therapy for SAD can include nutritional and herbal supplements (especially vitamins), psychotherapy, temporarily prescribed medications for depression, and the use of full spectrum light therapy (also called phototherapy). The efficacy of light treatment remains somewhat controversial because it is more effective in some patients than in others.  In my experience it has almost always been very helpful when I’ve suggested the use of light therapy for my patients, provided it is used regularly and correctly.  (You can learn more about the use of light therapy, and the variety of products available, through a simple online search.)  Whatever form(s) of treatment you utilize, addressing the problem can help you keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year.

Typical fall- and winter-onset seasonal affective disorder symptoms include:
• Depression
• Hopelessness
• Anxiety
• Loss of energy
• Social withdrawal
• Oversleeping
• Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
• Weight gain
• Difficulty concentrating and processing information

Beautiful fall foliage aside, we’re right at the start of the SAD season, so be sure to keep in touch with how you feel, recognizing any seasonal symptoms you may be suffering. Identifying these feelings is the first step toward dealing with them.  It’s important to take care of your physical health by staying warm and dry, and just as important to be mindful of your mental health by staying aware of your cold-weather moods.

Until next time:  “May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.”  — Apache blessing.

Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, minister, and educator, in private practice in Chattanooga, and is the author of “Empowering the Tribe” and “The Power of a Partner.”