SAD - When Recurring Unhappiness Gets Out of Control

Are you worried that your bout with wintertime sadness is lasting longer, or is more intense than you have previously experienced? How can you tell whether this is just a short-term issue, or whether you may be facing an actual problem with Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)? Should you get counseling? Find out about the symptoms of this condition, how it affects sufferers, and those treatments that are available.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is not just feeling sad after summer has gone. This condition starts to develop in autumn, when the season moves toward winter and daylight hours are shortened. Symptoms usually start at some point between September and November. Furthermore, 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. Despite the fact that symptoms may be very serious, doctors do not usually diagnose patients with this condition before he or she has experienced strong evidence of the disorder for at least three winters in a row.

Individuals who experience this disorder begin to experience feelings of sadness, reduced enthusiasm, and often sleep for long periods. Furthermore, they report a dependence on carbohydrates or sweets. In addition, the majority of persons diagnosed with SAD also have poor immune system functioning. Frequently, they develop illnesses much sooner than persons who do not have SAD.

This condition can seriously affect an individual’s capability of functioning professionally or at school. This decreased motivation can make it difficult for a person even to get out of bed and tend to normal activities. People with SAD find it difficult to participate in social situations, or even at home. They frequently experience episodes of extreme anxiety and negativity. Sometimes, symptoms become serious and disabling enough that some sufferers even think about suicide and require hospitalization for therapy.

Not surprisingly, women appear to experience SAD more frequently than men do. Furthermore, this condition seems to get better each year at springtime. In fact, by March or April, symptoms typically decrease or resolve altogether - until the following autumn. This is true even in regions that are frequently dismal all year long. In fact, almost twenty percent of those who are diagnosed with seasonal depression will at some point exhibit symptoms of bipolar disorder.

These people are usually depressed in the winter months, but have normal moods during the remainder of the year. At times, however, people report experiencing instances of uncontrollable mood elevation, which is also called mania. As with other types of depression, this condition may become very serious or even result in disability if not treated properly. Moreover, some persons experience very low-grade forms of SAD; they may struggle with sleepiness, decreased vigor, and loss of appetite. These individuals, however, do not usually endure instances of depressed moods or anxiety.

This type of depression is relatively uncommon in sunny regions such as Florida, Arizona, and even Colorado. In contrast, people who reside in places with a large number of cloudy days, such as Ohio, Michigan, or Washington are much more likely to develop this disorder. Citizens of countries including Finland, Germany, and Ireland also struggle with seasonal depression.

Medical researchers have attempted a number of different approaches to assist people recover from this exhausting condition. They have experimented with exposing people to 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, and supplements, such as melatonin, in an attempt to relieve these symptoms of depression. Often, those who experience depression also seek out psychotherapists when they are suffering most greatly.

Each of these treatments result in with varying amounts of success. All, however, are significantly more expensive and time-intensive than two more recent, innovative methods. Hypnotherapy practitioners have perfected the art of providing assistance with learning both NLP and self-hypnosis methods for depression. Through hypnosis, individuals learn to talk themselves out of a depressive period and resolve their symptoms. These useful therapies, hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, have resulting in a phenomenal degree of success in assisting clients to heal from, and prevent future problems with SAD.

Summary: Seasonal Affective Disorder is a kind of sadness that reappears each year at the same season. Only those who struggle with this disorder can determine whether to continue battling these symptoms alone, year after year, or to try to get help in resolving this disorder once and for all. Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming to treat depression are both helpful, innovative approaches that promise a quick escape from these feelings without requiring excessive resources in terms of money or energy.