With the colder, darker days here for some,
it can be a time when a type of depression kicks in.
That happens when the seasons change.
It's called seasonal affective disorder or SAS.
And here to tell us more about it is the director
of the Center for Behavioral Health and New York Tech psychiatrist,
Doctor Leat
Jarin. Thank you so much for being here and talking about this because
a lot of people deal with this but may not know
what it's called or how they are affected by it.
So tell us a little bit more about what sad is. Well, seasonal affective disorder.
It's a disorder that's very different from just winter blues.
It's not like I wish it was warmer and I wish I was at the beach.
It can be something that's very dysfunctional.
It makes people think, feel and behave very differently.
Um but it's a type of depression that is brought on by changes in daylight exposure.
So what happens when they are experiencing this depression?
So the symptoms include depression symptoms that we've spoken about before,
changes in mood energy levels, sleep,
sometimes depression and that can lead to suicidal thoughts.
But there's two patterns,
there's a winter pattern and a summer pattern and the winter pattern starts
in the fall goes about four or five months through the winter.
Um, and the symptoms include, think about hibernating.
So increasing in your sleep,
eating a lot of carbs and sugar and really socially isolating.
The summer pattern starts in the spring and it's
actually kind of the opposite where people don't sleep.
They're not interested in food,
they get restless and sometimes violent and agitated.
So it's really important to get that diagnosed.
So who would you say is more prone to have one of these disorders?
Well, it happens more in women than men. It's about 4 to 5
percent for 4 to 5 or women.
Um It starts happening about in their twenties to thirties for most people.
Um It's about 5% of the population that suffers from this.
The further you are from the equator,
people particularly had a history of depression and bipolar disorder in the past
are more likely to get it as well and it runs in families?
Ok. But is this just like a seasonal thing for the have SADs or can it happen
when there isn't a season change?
It is particularly
related to daylight changes,
exposure to daylight changes and it is cyclical.
It happens every year for the person at around the same time. Ok.
So now if you know it happens every year,
is there something you can do to prevent it from happening.
Exactly. So what happens during seasonal affective disorder?
The symptoms are caused by reduction in daylight,
which also reduces vitamin D levels.
It reduces our serotonin levels and it changes our
melatonin levels and melatonin is responsible for sleep.
So what we can do to counter it is there's something
called bright light therapy which you can do at home,
increase your vitamin D,
increase your serotonin either by exercising or also with antidepressants.
Get some therapy.
And one of the most important things is
prevention because we know that it happens every
year around the same time you can start
these treatments and actually prevent it from happening.
Now, would you say this is something that could run in a family
does run in families? Yes.
Huh?
So you really have to be on the lookout, especially if you have it and make it serious.
It can happen because it could happen with their kids as well. Right.
You can because it's related to depression, which is also familial. Wow. Ok.
So these are the things that keep in mind, especially when the seasons are changing.
So,
Doctor Dr
and thank you so much. Always great
tips in helping us out. Thank you.