What is SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a form of depression that many people experience for varied periods of time, typically when the seasons change. During this time people with SAD feel down or unlike themselves.
The condition is most common in the fall and winter when the days are getting darker and shorter, and is reported to get better in the spring and summer when the days again gets brighter and longer. This is called a winter-pattern SAD or what many people commonly refer to as winter blues.
Less common are the people who experience these mood changes in the spring and summer. This is called summer-pattern SAD. For some people the mood changes can be manageable, while for others the condition can be much more severe, affecting how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities, and ultimately leading to depression.
What is Depression?
Depression is a mood condition in which someone experiences such low moods that it interferes with their daily life. The condition not only affects a patient’s moods, but a person with depression may also think and act differently than they used to.
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 1 in every 6 people will experience clinical depression in their lifetime.
People who may have depression may not know that help is available. Major depressive disorder is a treatable illness, even though it may feel impossible to overcome when someone is deep in it.