Seasonal affective disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Episodes of depression, that occur at particular times of the year, are known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, and tend to happen mainly in the winter (Lurie et al. 2006). SAD is associated with lack of light, and occurs most prominently in countries that have dark winters. To some extent, mild cases are ‘normal’ (Eagles 2003). SAD is often associated with other conditions such as alcoholism, attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder (Lurie et al. 2006; Purse 2009).

There are three conventional approaches to SAD, which are light therapy, antidepressants and CBT. There is not much evidence for the benefits of antidepressants for this condition, and not much research into the evidence for CBT (Lurie et al. 2006; Eagles 2003).

However, light therapy has a low risk of adverse effects, and can be effective if practised in the mornings for between 30 minutes and two hours (Purse 2009; Lurie et al. 2006). Interestingly, research by Rybak (2006) into the effects of light therapy on adults with ADHD showed that it decreased the ADHD symptoms and also improved the mood symptoms in the 29 adult subjects in the study.

The research emphasises the fact that light therapy is a medical treatment and should be monitored by a doctor. However, light therapy and exercise have been shown to be beneficial to SAD and thus a morning walk or jog in daylight can effectively alleviate the symptoms (Partonen et al. 1998; Eagles 2003).

There is an alternative of course. As homeopaths, Tamzin and I treat this condition regularly and there are many symptoms that we can find remedies for, such as ‘Winter aggravates’ or even ‘Winter solstice agg’ (Murphy & Murphy 2005, p.365), ‘Darkness aggravates the mental state’ (p 1023), ‘Depression, darkness aggravates’ (p 1029), and so on. This leads us to prescribe many different remedies to treat SAD, such as Aurum (gold), Causticum (potassium hydrate), and Stramonium (jimson weed). So we would suggest that if you think you have a bad case of SAD, then come and see us and we will do our very best to help you.

Bibliography

Eagles, J.M., 2003. Seasonal affective disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 182(2), pp.174–176.

Lurie, S.J. et al., 2006. Seasonal affective disorder. American family physician, 74(9), pp.1521–1524.

Murphy, R. & Murphy, R., 2005. Homeopathic clinical repertory : a modern alphabetical and practical repertory, Blacksburg, Va.: Lotus Health Institute.

Partonen, T. et al., 1998. Randomized trial of physical exercise alone or combined with bright light on mood and health-related quality of life. Psychological medicine, 28(6), pp.1359–1364.

Purse, M., 2009. Light Therapy: A Bright Idea. About.com Bipolar Disorder. Available at: http://bipolar.about.com/od/treatment/a/lightbox.htm [Accessed October 4, 2012].