Do the shorter days in the winter give you the blues? If so, you are not alone. As the winter months draw near and day lights savings begins, the sky gets darker earlier in the day. During this time, people may begin to experience depressive symptoms, otherwise known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, where there are biological and mood disturbances occurring in autumn and winter with remission in the spring or summer (Kurlansik & Ibay, 2012). Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is triggered by the changing of seasons, typically coinciding with the beginning of fall. With SAD, the seasonal depression gets worse in the late fall or early winter and ends when it becomes sunnier in the spring. According to the American Psychiatric Association, SAD is officially classified as major depressive disorder with seasonal patterns (Golden, et al., 2005).
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Humans in Nature 