This is a guest post by Elaine Hirsch. Elaine is kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and video games. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things instead.

Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression experienced seasonally, usually in the fall and winter.

According to PubMedHealth, it often comes in periods of less sunlight and is most common in areas where the winter nights are long.

Women experience it more often than men, usually starting in their teens or 20s. Many times, a person’s seasonal affective disorder can be affected by stress from work or midterms from attending an online school.

The American Psychiatric Association says seasonal affective disorder is a real condition caused by a biochemical imbalance in the brain. It affects 10 to 20 percent of the population. There are several ways to cope with seasonal affective disorder:

1Know the symptoms. If you have seasonal affective disorder, you feel depressed, unhappy and irritable during the fall and winter and feel better in the summer. You may be hungrier, especially for carbohydrates, and gain weight. You are likely fatigued and don’t feel like carrying out your daily routine or interacting with others.

2Talk to your doctor. While you may be tempted to skip this step, especially if you feel that you have all the symptoms, it’s important to talk to a doctor. He will discuss your symptoms, give you a physical exam and review blood work to make sure you don’t have some other problem.

3Get treatment. Because seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression, your doctor might prescribe antidepressants or refer you to a therapist. This condition is unique among depressive disorders because light therapy can relieve symptoms. Ask your doctor or therapist how to use bright lamps to replace some of the sunlight you are missing in the winter.

4Get active. You may not feel like it, but push yourself to go out and exercise, mingle with others and continue your job or other routine activities. Studies show being active eases symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.

5Do not self-medicate. Avoid drinking too much alcohol or overdosing on prescriptions as a way to deal with feeling poorly. This will only mask your symptoms. Moreover, because alcohol is a depressant, it can eventually make your depression worse.

6Try supplements. The Mayo Clinic suggests: St. John’s wort, a herb; melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate mood; and Omega-3 fatty acid, a substance derived from fish and some nuts.

Seasonal affective disorder is affected by your circadian rhythm, or body’s internal clock. Because you are not exposed to as much sunlight in the fall and winter, your body loses some of the cues about when you should sleep and this can lead to depression.

Experts also say having less sun reduces levels of a brain chemical called serotonin, which can contribute to depressive feelings. Seasonal affective disorder is not simply a light case of winter blues. Psychiatrists recognize it as a true mental disorder, so you don’t need to simply suffer until spring. If you think you have this condition, consult with your doctor and motivate yourself to get help.

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