You Are My Sunshine

An attractive girl loses her job and her boyfriend in one day. She puts her belongings from work in a cardboard box and slowly ambles toward her car. She maneuvers her car through the desolate streets toward home, but suddenly, her car gets a flat. As she searches her wallet for her AAA card a picture of her ex-boyfriend flutters down to the ground. She studies it with tears welling in her eyes, and then the rain starts pouring down, mirroring her feelings. Only then does she let her tears fall. How many times have you seen a scene like this in a movie or television show? A lot of times when a character is down in the dumps, the weather turns stormy. When the weather is cloudy and cold, and the sun has not peeked his head out for awhile, some people start feeling depressed. They are not being melodramatic movie-star wannabes, though. They have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

SAD is a type of depression that affects people at the same time each year. People with SAD will feel depressed during the short days of winter and happier and more energetic in the spring and the summer. As the days get longer the depression lifts. You are more likely to have SAD if you are a female between the ages of 15-55. 60-90% of people with SAD are women. You are also more likely to develop SAD if you have a relative with SAD or you live far away from the equator.

Short days and lack of light top the list of cause for this disorder. It especially affects people who have moved to extreme northern climates where winter days are very short or seasonal differences in the amount of daylight are extreme. Other possible causes that are still being studied are disturbances in the natural biological clock (circadian rhythms) of the body or problems with the regulation of serotonin (a brain chemical).

The symptoms of SAD include irritability, sadness, anxiety, decreased activity and a need for more sleep, drowsiness during the daytime, and problems with work and relationships. The symptoms that doctors look for to distinguish between sad and non-seasonal depression is increased appetite, a craving for carbohydrates and weight gain. The symptoms of SAD usually start in September or October and end in April or May. Doctors will not diagnose patients with SAD unless they have been depressed in the winter and recovered in the spring or summer for at least two years in a row.

One treatment for SAD is light therapy, where the patient sits a certain distance from artificial bright lights. Light therapy is usually done in the morning. There is also a form of light therapy that is called dawn simulation, where lights in a bedroom are programmed to come on gradually a few hours before the patient wakes up. Another treatment is antidepressant medication. If you believe you have SAD, consult with your doctor as soon as possible.

You might not have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but you might be missing the sun during these cold winter months. An infrared heater uses technology to spread warmth like the rays of the sun without the harmful UV radiation. That way, you can watch that melodramatic movie maiden crying in the rain from the warm depths of your own home.