Winter depression is real and there are many ways to combat it

Like winter approaches and daylight hours decreasepeople who are prone to seasonal depression can feel it in their body and brain.

“It’s a feeling of panic, fear, anxiety and fear,” said Germaine Pataki, 63, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

I am one of the millions of people who are estimated to suffer from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Her coping strategies include yoga, walking and antidepressants. I am also part of a Facebook group for people with SAD.

“I try to focus on helping others with it,” Pataki said. This gives me purpose.

People with SAD often have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. Changing the clocks back to standard time, which is happening this weekend, can be a trigger for SAD. A very mild form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical professionals, and there is also a summer variant of seasonal depression, although little is known about it.

In 1984, a group led by Dr. Norman Rosenthal, then a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, first defined SAD and coined the term. “I believe that because it’s easy to remember, the acronym has stuck,” he said.

What causes seasonal affective disorder?

Scientists are learning how special cells in our eyes convert the blue portion of light waves into neural signals that affect mood and alertness.

Sunlight contains blue light, so when cells absorb it, our brain centers are activated and we feel more alert and perhaps even happier.

Researcher Kathryn Roecklein of the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes react to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially in the winter months. That suggests the cause of winter depression.

“In winter, when light levels drop, combined with low sensitivity, it may be too low for proper functioning, leading to depression,” Roecklein said.

Miriam Cherry, 50, of Larchmont, New York, said she spent the summer planning how to deal with winter stress. “It’s like working a clock,” Cherry said. “The sunlight is low. The day ends at 4:45, and all of a sudden my mood is shaken.”

Does light therapy help?

Most people with SAD respond to mild treatment, said Dr. Paul Desan of the Winter Depression Research Clinic at Yale University.

“The first thing to try is light,” said Desan. “When we expose patients to bright light for half an hour or more every morning, many patients improve greatly. We don’t even need medicine.”

The treatment involves devices that emit about 20 times more light than standard indoor lighting.

Research supports the use of a lamp of about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness. You need to use it for 30 minutes every morning, according to research. Desan says this can help not only people with SAD but also those with less severe winter blahs.

Specialty lamps range from $70 to $400. Some products marketed to SAD are too dim to do much good, Desan said.

Yale tested products and fees list of recommendationsand the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has consumer guide to select a lamp.

If your doctor has diagnosed you with SAD, check with your insurance company to see if the cost of the lamp may be covered, Desan suggests.

What about talk therapy or medication?

Antidepressants are the first treatment for SAD, as well as mild treatment. Doctors also recommend keeping a regular schedule of sleeping and walking outside, even on cloudy days.

The benefits of light therapy can wear off when people stop using it. Another type of talk therapy — cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT — has been shown in studies to have more lasting results, University of Vermont researcher Kelly Rohan said.

CBT involves working with a therapist to identify and change unhealthy thoughts.

Rohan said: “The most common thought people have is, ‘I hate winter.’ “Rephrase that to something simple, ‘I prefer summer to winter,'” he suggested. “It’s a true statement, but it has a neutral emotional effect.”

Working with a therapist can help people take small steps to enjoy themselves again, Rohan said. Try planning non-stressful but fun activities to come out of hibernation mode, which “could be as simple as meeting a friend for coffee,” Rohan said.

What else could work?

People with SAD have half a year to develop coping strategies, and some have found hacks that work for them – even if there is little scientific support.

Elizabeth Wescott, 69, of Folsom, California, believes that different showers help her. It’s a water treatment borrowed from sports medicine that involves alternating hot and cold water when you shower. He also uses a light box and takes an anti-depressant.

“I’m always looking for new equipment,” Wescott said.

Cherry in New York dedicates a corner of her garden to the first flowers to bloom: snowdrops, winter aconite and hellebores. These bloom in early February.

Cherry said: “That will be a sign to me that this is not going to last forever. It will get better, and spring is on its way.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.