Are you eating or sleeping more than you usually do now that the temperature has begun to drop and it is getting dark earlier? While it could be a normal reaction to the changing seasons, it might be something more serious like seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If your increase in eating and sleeping is accompanied by feelings of depression, lethargy, fatigue and other problems you may want to talk to your doctor about seasonal affective disorder.

SAD is a form of depression, which can severely impair your daily life. The signs and symptoms normally come and go around the same times every year. However, treatment can help you manage the symptoms of SAD successfully.

The symptoms of the type of seasonal affective disorder, which begins each winter, 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

Your body has a physiological process called the circadian rhythm, which helps regulate your internal clock. Some researchers suspect that the reduction of sunlight, which occurs in fall and winter, may disrupt the circadian rhythm in certain people causing depression. . Reduced sunlight can also cause a decrease in serotonin, a natural brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that affects mood, perhaps leading to depression. Still another theory is that the body's production of melatonin, a sleep-related hormone, usually increases during the long nights of winter and can cause depression.

While psychiatric professionals don’t recognize seasonal affective disorder as an official disorder, it can be diagnosed as a subtype of depression or bipolar disorder. Usually in order to suspect SAD as your diagnosis you must have experienced depression and other symptoms for at least two consecutive years, during the same season. Periods of depression are followed by periods of no depression and there are no other explanations for the changes in your mood or behavior.

Mild cases of SAD may be improved by sitting closer to bright windows, spending more time outside, and exercising. Light therapy that mimics outdoor light can cause biochemical changes in your brain that lift your mood, relieving symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Light therapy involves sitting near a specialized light therapy box while you're exposed to very bright light. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved light therapy. Treatment with an antidepressant or other psychiatric medication may also be used to treat seasonal affective disorder.


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