Few people leap up happily on those nasty winter mornings that make you want to wear your blanket to work. But if you are one of the millions of Americans whose mood and energy drop significantly each fall and winter, you may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.
SAD can be very serious and actually is a form of depression. It can cause irritability, deep sadness and hopelessness. Often, it causes a dramatically increased desire for sleep. In fact, a person with SAD may sleep an average amount in the summer, but then log a whopping 10 or 12 hours in the winter - and still want more.
You may have SAD if any of these statements apply to you: In the winter, I...
struggle to concentrate
have trouble waking up in the morning
don't want to do activities I usually enjoy
have little energy
isolate myself from other people
gain significant weight
crave high-carbohydrate foods
lose interest in sex
What on Earth causes SAD? Our planet actually plays a key role in SAD because winter brings longer nights and later sunrises. Experts believe that this disrupts our bodies' natural clocks, our circadian rhythms, as well as some of the chemicals that control mood and behavior. Although experts don't know what makes a particular person develop SAD, they suspect that a mix of genes and environment is at work.
Most people with SAD experience complete relief come springtime. There are, however, a small number of people who face a different kind of seasonal problem: They feel fine in the winter, but as the days heat up so do their symptoms, which often look like the opposite of winter SAD.