The Science Behind Seasonal Affective Disorder, and Tips to Tame It

The early winter darkness is here in New England, and that's got a lot of us settling in for the season. It's easy to sit at home, take more naps, get cozy... but it's also easy to slip into what's called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. It's not just a bad mood or the blues. Dr. Michelle DiBlasi, psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center, talks with Nichole about what SAD is, how you can tell when you're dealing with it, and how to overcome it.

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. So good tobe back with you again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. You know,honestly, I don't think anybody really ever
gets used to the sun going downat four o'clock. Six seven, okay,

(00:27):
that's fine. Five point thirty,that's okay too, But four is
just it's way too early. Andyet here we are. You might be
listening to this after four o'clock,and you might be in the dark.
With the time change now firmly inplace and winter on the way, we
have now kind of entered the timeof year that I like to call cozy
season. You don't want to beoutside because it's pitch blacks, so you

(00:48):
go home, you curl up,you eat snacks, you generally nap a
lot. That kind of thing.Look cozy is fine, but sad,
even depressed, that's not so good. And if you find yourself a special
down in the dumps these days,you might be dealing with something called seasonal
effective disorder. Doctor Michelle de Blasifrom Tough's Medical Centers here, doctor,
thank you so much for being here. Tell us a bit more about SAD.

(01:11):
Seasonal effective disorder. Yeah, so, seasonal effective disorder is essentially a
type of depression that happens typically aroundthis time of year, usually in the
late fall, sort of early winter, And so around this time of year,
people start to feel kind of especiallydown, you know, more sluggish,
possibly feeling more hopeless, having changesand how much they're eating or how

(01:37):
much they're sleeping, and so forsome people this can be a really difficult
time of year. Why is that, though, you know, why does
this time of year specifically trigger thesefeelings in us? We don't know exactly
why this happens, but there's definitelysome legitimate theories as to what's happening.
I mean, the biggest thing isthat when there's less levels of some especially

(02:00):
in you know, further away fromthe equator, we actually produce less serotonin
in our brains, and serotonin isa hormone that makes us feel good.
So with less serotonin in our brainsthat we can access, we actually start
to feel more depressed. The otherthing that could be contributing is, you

(02:21):
know, sunlight helps our bodies producevitamin D and that we know that vitamin
D can also help with increasing serotoninand making us feel good, so we
have less vitamin D during this timeof year. And then the other thing
to keep in mind is that whenit's getting darker longer, our bodies will
actually start to produce more melatonin inour brains, which usually can actually cause

(02:44):
you to feel more sluggish or moretired during the daytime. That is very
true. I personally can attest tothat. I mean, ever since the
time change, I have been atired mess. And I know I'm not
alone. There's so many of usthat way exactly. I know it is.
It's more common, I think thanpeople think. And I think it's
important we talk about this because itreally, you know, brings awareness to

(03:07):
the to the issue. Yeah,how do you know when you're actually dealing
with something like seasonal effective disorder?I think the biggest thing to really look
out for is like a significant changein you know, your daily functions,
so you know, you notice thatyou're really not having much of an appetite
anymore, or you're way over eating, or you're having trouble sleeping at night,

(03:31):
or you're sleeping way too much,and then just noticing that you're sort
of losing interest in doing things thatyou still like to do, like activities
or spending time with people, maybestarting to isolate more. Those are going
to be your biggest signs that somethingserious could be going on. Okay,
are there any specific groups that areat bigger risk for this? Maybe women

(03:54):
as opposed to men, younger peopleas opposed to older people. Yeah.
So usually seasonal effective disorder starts tokind of happen to people, you know,
in their sort of like mid twenties, but the rates of it kind
of increase with age. But Iwould say in general most people are affected
or probably between the ages of likeeighteen and thirty. I slightly higher in

(04:16):
women compared to men. Okay,and then how do you diagnose this as
opposed to separately from depression or adifferent type of depression. Say I'm feeling
pretty blue, and I come tomy psychiatrist or my therapist and I say,
look, this is how I'm feeling. How can you determine that this
is different from just standard fair depression. I guess I think in order to

(04:39):
diagnose this, you really have tohave a good history, you know,
and a good timeline of the symptoms. And so when you start to recognize
that somebody has these sort of depressionsymptoms and they seem to only occur or
happen to occur at the exact sametime of year, that's really going to
be your tip off that this mightbe a seasonal effect disorder versus another kind

(05:01):
of depression for example. Okay,so then if somebody is diagnosed with seasonal
effective disorder, I mean, obviouslywhen spring and summer come around, that's
certainly going to help, and weget that vitamin D and the heat and
the sun comes back. How canyou handle this now as we make our
way through the winter months. Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest
thing to do is really to ifyou're noticing that you're having depression symptoms,

(05:25):
to really reach out for help toyour provider or your therapist or even just
a friend to kind of talk aboutwhat you're going through. And then the
other things are to really care foryou, take good care for yourself,
especially this time of year, youknow, eating healthily, trying to get
have good sleep hygiene so that yougo to sleep at a reasonable time and

(05:46):
that you're getting good quality sleep,and then really just trying to stay you
know, socially connected or keep doingthe things you like to do during the
daytime, because I think sometimes peoplecan get a little bit too isolated in
the winter can kind of worsen depressionsymptoms. The biggest thing that usually your
provider would recommend would be getting alight box or undergoing light therapy, which

(06:08):
basically is essentially what it sounds like. It's a box that produces light.
You'd be free led light. Typicallyuse it about thirty minutes in the morning,
just to kind of give your brainthe sensation that it's still bright outside.
And then in addition to you know, getting good sleep and eating healthily,
the other things we recommend are youknow, getting into therapy specifically like

(06:31):
cognitive behavioral therapy. And then obviously, if it's really severe, you may
also need antidepressant or medications. Yeah, for sure. And I think it's
important to be realistic too. Ifyou're feeling this way, you shouldn't be
putting like big life decisions in frontof you right now or setting huge goals.
It's okay to take it easy.I completely agree. I completely agree.
And then getting outside too. Wedo still have some really nice days

(06:56):
where it's nice and sunny and youcan just kind of bundle yourself up and
get into nature for a bit.I'm sure that helps. Absolutely, yes,
it certainly helps. All right,well, doctor de Blasi, this
has been really good information. Thankyou so much for your time. I
appreciate it. Thank you. Havea safe and healthy weekend, and please
join me again next week for anotheredition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis

(07:17):
from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.