Seasonal Affective Disorder

Posted by Jeff on March 10, 2010 · View Comments

Image source: http://noticefurtheruntil.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/out-of-the-summer-of-hibernation-im-back/

Each spring I’m reminded of the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)¹. Once daylight hours begin to increase and the quality of the light shifts from dull to bright, I awaken as if from hibernation. During the winter months I used to go into a depressive, sleep-like state, a sort of human hibernation. Wellbutrin has worked wonders to solve this problem, at least the depression, and having “natural” light in the form of full spectrum lighting has had a bit of a beneficial effect. Still, there’s nothing that compares with the longer days and the bright sunshine of spring and summer. Think you might suffer from SAD? The Mayo Clinic has some information.

FYI: I’m located in New York. I suffer from the Fall/Winter version of SAD (appropriate acronym, no?) but note that there is also a Spring/Summer version. Surprisingly, I could not find anyone who thought that SAD was some sort of gift. ↩

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http://twitter.com/Jeffy_B @Jeffy_B

Out of curiosity, what kind of overlap exists between ADD and SAD, do you think? I, also, have both conditions, and, if I had any faith in my theory, I would be willing to bet that a decent size population could be made of the junction between the two…
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Gotta tell you…I hadn't even thought of it as a comorbid condition but, it turns out, that it is. After consulting the oracle at Google I found this: "Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) symptoms overlap and co-exist at higher rates in those with ADHD…." There's a lot more info at the website.
Jim

Since supplementing with Mood Boost Drink I have less severe SAD and it's not as bad when I get down.
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Where I come from…we had Mood Boost Drinks. We used to call them Jack Daniels & Coke.

On a serious note…it looks interesting but, quite honestly, I don't know anything about its efficacy except for what you've stated. For anyone who is interested, the website is: http://www.moodboostdrink.com
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Where I come from…we had Mood Boost Drinks. We used to call them Jack Daniels & Coke.

On a serious note…it looks interesting but, quite honestly, I don't know anything about its efficacy except for what you've stated. For anyone who is interested, the website is: http://www.moodboostdrink.com
http://intensedebate.com/people/18channels 18channels

I had wicked bad seasonal moods shifts when I lived in Seattle, which is where I grew up, and where it is overcast about 8 months out of the year. At least here in New England, the SUN comes out even in the WINTER. And I LOOOOOOOVE it.
http://addmsorboth.blogspot.com/ Scott Hutson

Look on the bright side> It’s a great excuse for being late, and we can baim ADD> “Sorry man, I forgot to set my clocks foreward”…….Know whats so funny about setting clocks foreward for me? I have always set my clocks/watches foreward no matter what the real time is. My wife thinks I am just weird for doing that. Or as she puts it, “A touch of O.C.D. in alot of the things you do honey”
http://columbiachildpsychologist.blogspot.com/ Child Psych

You might be interested in some of the links in a survey I did last November at the start of the SAD season (maybe we should rename winter!) – Mental Health Roundup: Seasonal Affective Disorder. In it, I linked to a chronobiologist's blogpost about how circadian rhythms & melatonin relate to SAD. He also talks about early morning people (larks) vs late-night people (night-owls) and suggests the latter may be more susceptible to SAD. Perhaps that's the link between ADHD and SAD since probably most ADHD folks are night-owls (an unverified assertion on my part). What was the website you found via Google?
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. For completely different reasons (namely…to help with my sleep) I've started using melatonin and, I have to say, I have a nice deep sleep.

Here's that link I refer to: http://stanford.wellsphere.com/add-adhd-article/a…
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. For completely different reasons (namely…to help with my sleep) I've started using melatonin and, I have to say, I have a nice deep sleep.

Here's that link I refer to: http://stanford.wellsphere.com/add-adhd-article/a…
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. For completely different reasons (namely…to help with my sleep) I've started using melatonin and, I have to say, I have a nice deep sleep.

Here's that link I refer to: http://stanford.wellsphere.com/add-adhd-article/a…
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

I had once heard that the way they predicted the weather in Seattle is that they threw a brick up in the air. If it landed on the ground…it was going to rain.