Seasonal Affective Disorder: a VERY Real Ailment.

Published on December 13, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In Health & Medicine

It's getting to be that time of year where I'm glad I'm not back in Wisconsin. The upper midwest is gorgeous, but there is a bad side to it as well, a bad side that I, for one, have experience in dealing with.

You see, when the days get short, especially when one is cooped up inside all day, people who are prone to depression anyway tend to suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Unlike so many other "fad" illnesses, SAD is very real, although, fortunately, very treatable. The trick is, you have to RECOGNIZE it and deal with it. And in recognizing it, you can't blame anyone for your condition.

Some of us happened to be born with a few faulty wires in our programming. Depression and disorders like Seasonal Affective Disorder are a few of those faulty wires. But we don't have to suffer with that faulty wiring all of our lives...

That's it for today's helpful hints, folks. Gotta get back on topic...

Comments

Gideon MacLeish

on Dec 13, 2005

yes, it can. But far be it from me to suggest solutions (whistles).

dharmagrl

on Dec 13, 2005

When Dave was in the Arctic for a year, every room in the dorms (barracks) had a light box in it. During the months that it never gets light, the troops there were advised to have that light on for at least a few hours a day, more if they could manage it.

It IS a real disorder, and people who suffer from it aren't 'crazy'.

Dr Guy

on Dec 13, 2005

It reminds me of the movie Insomnia. I have never suffered from it, but then the farthest north I have lived was ohio.

Myrrander

on Dec 13, 2005

Heya Gid, you're bang on in calling this a very real ailment. My dad always goes into the doldrums as the days get shorter and spends all the time he can outside in the sun. There's an equivalent disorder (the name escapes me, apologies) for people who get a little crazy when the days get longer.

I often wonder if the basis for this sort of thing might have something to do with which part of the world our genetic stock comes from. Then again, as we all arose just recently in the scheme of things in Equatorial Africa, perhaps our sun-love derives from adapting to that area of the world.

Being a night-owl myself, I enjoy it when the days get shorter -- to those of us who drink coffee on the late shift at the Waffle House, the sun is the "evil day star" (after many nights of this, we have a whole tongue in cheek mythos about it). My wife, on the other hand, just shuts down once the sun sets, and she's always more tired in the winter.

The sun is the most important thing to us, so it's no surprise how much it affects people by when it comes around and how long it stays.

haha sorry for the long comment, I haven't been able to comment for awhile...

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