seasonal affective disorder

When a person experiences recurring depression and fatigue at the same time of the year he may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD). These kind of symptoms usually appear in the months of winter when the daylight hours become shorter. But they seem to disappear once spring returns and days become longer again. The person returns to his usual mood and energy level.

According to medical experts, two hormones known as melatonin and serotonin regulate a persons sleep-wake cycles, energy and mood. Sunlight seems to play a key role in the production of these two hormones. Lack of sunlight in winter, increases the level of melatonin which can cause a person to feel sleepy and lethargic.

The reverse effect occurs in summer or spring when longer hours of daylight produces serotonin which gets the person back to his normal mood.

To combat SAD many people use Sad Lamps. For more information on this condition you can visit the Sad affective disorder blog.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “seasonal affective disorder”

 

• Its time to talk about SAD

  
  We Share with You — Authority: 99
  This is the worst time of the year for me.  It is the time when I need medication to help get me out of the rut.  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) didnt affect me until my early 30s.  I dont know if it was caused by moving where it hardly snowed and the skies were usually blue to where the skies are almost always ...
  6 days ago

• #Row80 Checkin January 22

  
  Learning to Say Yes — Authority: 107
  I’m changing my goals this week. I’ve realized somethings I set are not working for me, and since they are my goals I’m changing them. I felt better immediately after I decided to do so earlier in the week. Writing goals: Edit 5 days a week, 1 hour a day   After editing is done, write 250 words 5 days a ...
  1 week ago

• How to Fight Seasonal Affective Disorder

  
  It's Time for More Coffee — Authority: 103
  January can be a tough month. December is full of family and celebrating and travel and yummy food and presents wrapped in bows. And then comes January. The reality of a white Christmas(most years) sets in as winter appears to be an endless stream of grey. Perky resolutions remind us of our too tight pants, and ...
  1 week ago

• 10 Tips To Improve Your Winter Mood

  
  Healthy & Green Living — Authority: 589
  Dont let SAD get you down. Food and fixes for winter blues.
  1 week ago

• JRs Very Unscientific Cure for SAD

  
  Jungle Red Writers — Authority: 458
  DEBORAH CROMBIE : Its the middle of January. Christmas is so over. Weve returned the things that didnt fit. Spent our gift certificates. The catalogs filled with lovely, sparkly things are in the recycle bin, and now our mailboxes are stuffed with credit card bills. Weve made our New Years resolutions, and for ...
  1 week ago

• 6 Green Ways to Ward Off the Winter Blues (a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder)

  
  INHABITAT — Authority: 695
  Read the rest of 6 Green Ways to Ward Off the Winter Blues (a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder) Permalink |Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 6 Green Ways to Battle , depression , green ways to beat depression , how to fight winter blues , how to treat seasonal affective disorder , light therapy , ...
  1 week ago

• Joy in January - A Natural Perfumers Guild project and Three-day Giveaway - Day 2 of 3

  
  Anya's Garden — Authority: 104
   Joy in January - a three-day blogging event to help you deal with your SAD-ness this month. If youre reading this on the second day of the three-day blog event, you can read my initial post about SAD and scents here . When I moved to Syracuse, New York in 1980 for grad school, it was a very ...
  1 week ago

• 6 Green Ways to Ward Off the Winter Blues (a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder)

  
  INHABITAT — Authority: 695
  Read the rest of 6 Green Ways to Ward Off the Winter Blues (a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder) Permalink |Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: 6 Green Ways to Battle , depression , green ways to beat depression , how to fight winter blues , how to treat seasonal affective disorder , light therapy , ...
  1 week ago

• Light, Health, Rhythm

  
  theAbysmal — Authority: 111
  How reforming the calendar can improve your health. Seriously. Previous post on Human Gestation, Time and Becoming In the course of researching calendars, time, and culture, I’ve come across a number of resources that describe our bodies’ and brains’ relationship to the seasons. The bias tends towards those of ...
  2 weeks ago

• A Case Of The Mondays: Official Science

  
  A Whole Lot of Nothing ...and then some. — Authority: 110
  If you’ve got an extra special Case of the Mondays today, you’re not alone. According to research done by a British psychologist, Cliff Arnall, as reported in The Daily Beast , the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the entire year: We’re so blue, Arnall says, because of the weather, ...
  2 weeks ago

• Need Hope? Take Three Doses of MLK’s Dream Speech

  
  Blogs — Authority: 147
  In the midst of winter, the temperatures in many parts of the country have plummeted. Gone are the mild 40s and freakish 60s of a few weeks ago. The nights are long, and spring is still far off. I am convinced that here in America, and perhaps elsewhere, we are finding it increasingly necessary, with each passing ...
  2 weeks ago

• Need Hope? Take Three Doses of MLK’s Dream Speech

  
  Blogs — Authority: 147
  In the midst of winter, the temperatures in many parts of the country have plummeted. Gone are the mild 40s and freakish 60s of a few weeks ago. The nights are long, and spring is still far off. I am convinced that here in America, and perhaps elsewhere, we are finding it increasingly necessary, with each passing ...
  2 weeks ago

• Joy in January - A Natural Perfumers Guild project and Three-day Giveaway

  
  Anya's Garden — Authority: 104
   Joy in January - a three-day blogging event to help you deal with your SAD-ness this month. The Natural Perfumers Guild is an association of perfumers, suppliers and associates dedicated to the use of 100% natural aromatics.  Whether it be a perfume, body spray, soap, candle, lotion or other fragrance ...
  2 weeks ago

• Beat the Winter Blues: 2 Aromatherapy Bubblebath Recipes

  
  this time - this space — Authority: 396
  The color blue is a mentally-relaxing color that has a pacifying effect and encourages relaxation. It’s frequently used in bedrooms and hospitals for calming hyperactivity and evoking sleep.  The calming effect is also uplifting on a spiritual level for the … Continue reading  →
  2 weeks ago

• Seasonal Affective Disorder – Can Vitamin Deficiencies Make It Worse?

  
  Natural Health And Wellness Tips — Authority: 105
  Do you suffer from seasonal affective disorder?  Do you dread the coming of winter every year?  It’s thought that the lower light levels and shorter days of winter trigger this problem.  But vitamin deficiencies may have more to do with it than you think. Vitamin B Deficiency Can Cause Seasonal Depression Most ...
  2 weeks ago

• Kick Cabin Fever To The Curb

  
  Inside DealTaker — Authority: 104
    Call it what you want.  Winter blues.  Cabin fever.  Cold weather yuckies.  Whatever.  It exists and the peak time for this rut to hit is right around the corner.  For some, it’s already hitting now.  Wikipedia defines cabin fever as”an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes ...
  2 weeks ago

• How to Beat The Winter Blues and Seasonal Effective Disorder [Infographic]

  
  Norman Rosenthal Blog — Authority: 92
  Most people have heard about Seasonal Affective Disorder and its milder version, the Winter Blues . But at this time of year, when many people are feeling slowed down and disinclined to read a lot of text, we thought it would be a perfect time to present visually some of the key points that most people would like ...
  2 weeks ago

• Four Natural Treatments For Seasonal Affective Disorder

  
  Natural Health And Wellness Tips — Authority: 105
  Do you know about natural treatments for seasonal affective disorder?  You may not be able to escape from winter, but these natural cures can make it more bearable for you. Vitamins For Depression Research is showing that deficiencies in certain vitamins may cause you to feel blue. Many people don’t get enough ...
  2 weeks ago

• I Fall Into A Funk Every Winter

  
  St. Louis Neighborhoods — Authority: 108
  Tired, unmotivated, and moody?  Gray skies and the constant need to scrape frost from your windshield (although we’ve been lucky so far) are enough to bring anyone down.  If you struggle to find joy in the things that normally make you happy, you may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of ...
  2 weeks ago

• Fighting Wintertime Blues? You Could have Seasonal Affective Disorder

  
  EmpowHer.com - Site Activity Feed — Authority: 484
  It’s January. The holidays are over and if you’re living in the northern section of the world it’s cold, gray, and pretty darn gloomy. Can this make you sad ? You bet it can. Literally, S.A.D. Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that strikes during the winter months, but ...
  2 weeks ago

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