SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

The holidays can be an especially hard time for people to maintain their mental health. Many people go through short periods of time where they feel sad or not like their usual selves. Sometimes, these mood changes begin and end when the seasons change. People may start to feel “down” when the days get shorter in the fall and winter (also called “winter blues”) and begin to feel better in the spring, with longer daylight hours.  In some cases, these mood changes are more serious and can affect how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities. If you have noticed significant changes in your mood and behavior whenever the seasons change, you may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression.  In most cases, SAD symptoms start in the late fall or early winter and go away during the spring and summer; this is known as winter-pattern SAD or winter depression.  Symptoms of winter depression may include:

• Oversleeping (hypersomnia)
• Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates
• Weight gain
• Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)
• Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day
• Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Feeling sluggish or agitated
• Having low energy
• Feeling hopeless or worthless
• Having difficulty concentrating
• Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide

Joining me today is Heather Aberg, a current therapist, and a clinical social worker for her private practice. Heather has an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a master’s degree in Social Work from Denver University. She is certified in EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—and worked as a bereavement counselor at Mount Evans Home Health Care and Hospice for 20 years. She has had a private practice in clinical social work for the last 7 years. In the past 4 years, Heather has pushed for recognition of the mental health issues in the mountain community and created Resilience1220, free counseling to teach youth the necessary skills to cope with today’s world that will carry throughout their lives.

https://hopefull-conversations.simplecast.com/episodes/sad

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