Seasonal Affective Disorder making people SAD.
SAD is an acronym short for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
It is a form of depression that occurs during the cold winter months starting in December. The days get shorter and colder, and some people call it the “winter blues, or winter depression.”
The symptoms can include fatigue, sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, weight gain, poor sleep, poor sex drive, irritability, poor concentration, no energy, thoughts of suicide, and crying spells.
The treatment for SAD is light therapy, and includes not only sunshine light, but also fluorescent light daily in morning and night. 30 minutes a day is appropriate light exposure.
While most anti depressant medications help with SAD, there are some other home remedies to try.
In the morning when you awake, eating a nutritious breakfast with complex carbs and proteins, with cinnamon and black tea.
If you can open your mind and focus on good things in your life, be active with things you like to do, and smile, all of these increase natural endorphins in your body to make you feel good.
Carrying around a bag of peppermint leaves and smelling them increases your mood. If all else fails, pull up a PHQ 9 questionnaire from online. Fill it out and bring it to your doctor.
The score is a good objective number to have to determine if you have mild to moderate to severe depression. I like to check these scores every month while patients are being treated for first 3-6 months.
No comments:
Post a Comment