Do you have seasonal affective disorder? If you experience symptoms like depression, fatigue and carbohydrate cravings during the shorter days of winter, but then begin to feel better each year when spring arrives, it's possible that you could have a form of depression called seasonal affective disorder.
In addition to psychological symptoms like depressed mood and loss of interest in everyday activities, seasonal affective disorder also manifests with physical symptoms like fatigue and cravings for starchy or sweet foods.
Seasonal affective disorder is believed to be caused by a disturbance in the normal circadian rhythm of the body. This rhythm, which is influenced by light entering the eye, can become disrupted during the shorter days of winter when we may not be outdoors during daylight hours.
There is no laboratory test for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It is diagnosed based upon a person's symptom history using criteria set forth by the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
The strongest data is for bright light therapy, a method that has been investigated for over two decades in well over 1,000 patients.
There are several alternative treatments for seasonal affective disorder besides light therapy. Antidepressants are an effective and commonly used treatment for seasonal affective disorder, while dawn simulation and high-density negative air ionization have been investigated experimentally as non-drug alternatives.
Researchers have investigated using light therapy for a variety of ailments including non-seasonal depression, bulimia, PMS, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression during pregnancy with promising results.
Many light therapy devices on the market claim to be able to treat seasonal affective disorder, but not all meet the recommended requirements for treatment. Before buying a light box, check if it meets the following recommendations from the
Center for Environmental Therapeutics (CET).
