Seasonal Affective Disorder

Senior man wearing jacket and muffler around neck

Image: iStockphoto

Fall is creeping in, its getting colder, soon we’ll be turning the clocks back. With darker evenings people leave the house less and participate less in outdoor exercise.

More than half who took part in a recent survey said they feel “more depressed’ in winter.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is most commonly associated with the winter blues, and it afflicts 5% of Americans.

It’s a week after your guy lost the most emotionally charged presidential campaign in memory.
Your 401K has the value of a bus token.
Days are shorter causing seasonal affective disorder (SAD) to kick in.
And as if all that weren’t enough — what the heck happened to the Sox and Cubs!?

Image: Creative Commons

Image: Creative Commons

“This is the time of the year when people are vulnerable to depression anyway,” said Dr. Thomas Nutter, assistant professor, psychiatry & behavioral neurosciences, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. “The fact that the election happened, the economy has taken a downturn and the White Sox and the Cubs disappointed us dramatically, all of these things can help depression gain a foothold in certain individuals.” [continue reading…]

Beating the winter blues

On Sunday 2nd November summertime will officially end for us here on the West Coast of Canada when we turn back our clocks and usher in the dark, never ending rainy days of fall.

Like many people I look forward to that precious extra hour in bed on Sunday, but the dark fall and winter days are no laughing matter for those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. [continue reading…]