Tis not the season to be Jolly....
As the earth tilts on it's axis, the rays of the sun enter our atmosphere at a steeper angle. The result is a commonly felt change in daylight (shorter days) but an uncommonly felt change in emotion (seasonal affective disorder). Perhaps from primal instincts of nightfall being associated with predation, the brain seems to be more emotional, less tolerant, poor creativity, less enthusiastic, loss of interest, socially withdrawn. These normally would be traits that would thin the heard, as animals that suffered this would separate from the group and be easy meals for man eaters. In the modern era, darkness has been changed to be a time of community, family, story telling, camp fires and social gathering. There still are a select few (4-10% of the population) who experience depression like symptoms during the winter. It is usually more women than men, and more in the northern states than southern states. The symptoms are subtle if just from the change in season, You don't have to be labeled with preexisting major depression to suffer from SAD. Sometimes all it takes is loss of a job, loved one, a move, major infection, new diagnosis, economic hardship. (stressors that happen at the wrong time)
Diagnosis should be made by a professional, to make sure thyroid is working fine, adrenal gland is good, no vitamin deficiencies are occurring, Behavioral therapy is a must when there is any form of behavioral imbalance. My older patients are usually steadfast in saying "I'm not going to a shrink!". My younger patients are more willing to experiment. It does take strength to have someone examining and query your past and current emotional status, not to mention childhood years and related milestones along the way to adulthood. It is thought that only through the delicate guidance of someone trained in behavioral health can one gain a good vantage point for introspection. At that point when all the learned stress response and and poor coping skills are relinquished; problem solving can be started on how to heal-physical, emotional and spiritual.
To get through the rough spots while moving away from the trauma, sitting for couch time, trying to sleep......there are prescriptions given if symptoms are severe enough. For mild to moderate depressive feelings, botanical supplementation has a track record of improvement in depression equal to that of standard antidepressant medications.
NIH study Zoloft vs St Johns Wort vs Placebo
To be included in the study symptoms had to be difficulty with concentrating, lack of energy, lack of interest, difficulty with completing tasks, oversleeping, craving carbohydrates, irritability, insomnia, and anxiety. Bottom line with the results-SJW/Zoloft gave the same result for improving depression actually with placebo also ranking an effect to patients with mild to moderate disease. My average patient believes once you get on "psych medicines" you will be on them forever (alot of hesitation). The true use of any medicine is to make daily living sustainable until the body/mind corrects itself. If nutritionally healthy, physically fit without any co morbid diseases, the body and mind should be able to heal itself. If you wait until depression becomes severe, it will be much harder to reverse. Seasonal affective disorder is a subcategory of Depression.
Think of a rash from food; if you get a rash from something you ate, depending on how much you like the food and how bad the rash it determines how fast you resolve the issue. If you keep on applying lotion yet indulging in the bad eating behavior, nothing will change. One must change the connection to the toxic thing so you wont need the temporary fix. In this case of SAD, if the temporary fix has little side effect, can be acquired without prescription and has been rigorously studied for safety-BINGO!
-St Johns Wort (from a reliable company) is a great supplement/botanical. It should not be used with certain HIV drugs, Chemotherapy, oral contraception, blood thinners. It can be used along side current depression medicines but a wean up (SJW)/wean down (prescription depression med) schedule should be designed by an integrative doctor/integrative psychiatrist. I often suggest (SJW) if a life trial occurs during the cold season. If used as a maintenance during winter months, I suggest start at Thanksgiving and wean off by Easter. In southern states the time period can be shorter. As with any form of disorder in mood, therapy should be initiated with a pastor/social worker/licensed counselor/psychologist or psychiatrist. It is very difficult to undo bad coping skills on you own. (smoker stop smoking, teenager stop texting, eater stop binging, procrastinator start moving) Having someone to be accountable to increases sustainability and success.
