Vitality News Health Articles

Are you worried that your struggle with wintertime blues has lasted longer, or has become more intense than normal? How can you tell whether this is just a temporary problem, or whether you might be dealing with a serious condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD? Should you get treatment from a physician? Find out about the symptoms of this condition, how this disorder can affect you, and what therapies are available.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is not just feeling “down” when the weather is bad. This condition begins when fall heads toward winter and daylight hours are shortened. For most people, symptoms typically appear sometime during late summer or early fall. Moreover, since SAD and other types of depression are so severe, doctors need extensive evidence of the condition before they are willing to make a definite diagnosis. Although symptoms may be very serious, doctors rarely diagnose a person with this condition until after he or she shows strong evidence of the disorder for a minimum of three winters in a row.

Those who suffer from SAD begin to have emotions of depression, decreased motivation, and often sleep for long periods. Furthermore, they report a dependence on carbohydrates or candy. Additionally, the majority of persons who experience SAD also have poor immune system functioning. Often, they become ill much more easily than persons who do not have SAD.

This condition can negatively affect a person’s ability to function professionally or at school. This decreased motivation can make getting out of bed or engaging in one’s usual daily activities difficult. Sufferers find it difficult to participate in social encounters, or even at home. These persons frequently have episodes of extreme panic and irritability. Sometimes, the problem becomes serious and distressing enough that victims even consider suicide and have to be hospitalized for treatment.

Not surprisingly, females seem to have a higher rate of SAD than men do. Additionally, this disorder seems to get better each year when spring arrives. Indeed, by March or April, symptoms usually subside or resolve completely - until the following autumn. This is true even in regions that tend to be cloudy or rainy throughout the entire year. In fact, as many as twenty percent of the people treated for SAD will eventually develop symptoms of bipolar disorder.

These sufferers primarily tend to be depressed in the winter months, but report normal moods during the remainder of the year. In some cases, however, they describe instances of unexpected elation, also known as mania. Like any other type of depression, this condition can become very serious or even result in disability if left untreated. Moreover, many individuals suffer from very low-grade levels of depression; they may experience exhaustion, decreased vigor, and loss of appetite. Such people, however, rarely suffer episodes of depressive moods or anxiety.

This kind of depression is fairly rare in sunny areas such as Florida, southern California, and even Colorado. In contrast, people who reside in states with a large number of cloudy days, such as Indiana, Michigan, or Washington are at higher risk for developing this disorder. Citizens of countries including Denmark, Germany, and Ireland also struggle with SAD.

Scientists have attempted many different strategies to assist people overcome this exhausting condition. They have experimented with placing people under artificial light in an attempt to assist them to manufacture more serotonin and relieve depression symptoms. Researchers have also tried medications such as anti-anxiety drugs, as well as supplements, such as melatonin, in an attempt to treat these signs of depression. Often, people who struggle with SAD also seek out psychiatrists when their symptoms are at their peak.

Each of these approaches have been used with different degrees of success. All, however, are significantly more costly and require more time than two recently introduced, innovative techniques. Hypnotherapists have refined the art of coaching clients to learn both NLP and hypnotherapy techniques for depression. Using hypnosis, clients learn to talk themselves out of a depressive period and resolve their symptoms. These innovative treatments, hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, have resulting in a phenomenal amount of benefit in helping individuals to heal from, and avoid future occurrences of SAD.

Summary: SAD is a kind of sadness that recurs each year at the same season. Only individuals who suffer from this condition are able to choose whether to continue battling these symptoms alone, year after year, or to try to get help in escaping the effects of this problem once and for all. Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming to treat SAD are both effective, innovative approaches that provide a rapid relief from these feelings without spending enormous resources in terms of money or energy.

Alan B. Densky, CH specializes in stress and depression related symptoms as an NGH certified hypnotist. During his 30-year career he has helped thousands of clients. He offers self-hypnosis therapy for depression CDs. Visit his Neuro-VISION self-hypnosis site for the hypnosis article library, or watch his free video hypnosis collection.

- Alan B. Densky, CH