Seasonal Affective Disorder and Winter Blues- Treatment Options-Light Therapy for SAD

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression that is associated with changes in the seasons. (It also has the clever acronym, SAD). Or it’s called the Winter Blues. These symptoms often start in the fall and persist into the winter. With Winter SAD people feel less energetic and more moody, with symptoms similar to depression. It can look like: Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed, feeling sluggish, tired, or low energy, having problems with sleep, feeling hopeless, weight gain, or appetite changes and specifically in the winter, cravings for more food, especially high carb food. Around 20 percent of Americans (That’s like 65 million people) experience seasonal affective disorder. Now this disorder impacts people who are closer to the poles, because the amount of sunlight varies more dramatically with the seasons there, than near the equator.

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