CHART OF SOLAR RADIATION- To better understand Seasonal Affective Disorder

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This chart may help you better understand SAD-Seasonal Effective Disorder

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Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is triggered by the winter season. Symptoms usually begin in late fall or early winter and go away by summer. It is more common in northern regions, where the winter season is typically longer and harsher. This disorder has many symptoms that you might find yourself having and its causes has some traits that Alaska just so happens to have.

It is more common in women than in men. Although some children and teenagers get SAD, it usually doesn't start in people younger than 20 years of age. For adults, the risk of SAD decreases as they get older. Symptoms are a drop in energy; change in appetite, especially a craving for sweet or starchy foods, weight gain, fatigue, a tendency to oversleep, difficulty concentrating, irritability and anxiety, increased sensitivity to social rejection, avoidance of social situations, and a loss of interest in the activities you used to enjoy. It affects 20 percent of the Alaskan population, according to the Alaska Mental Health Association. Experts agree that there is a link between decreasing sunlight during the fall and winter months and a chemical imbalance in the brain.

In 1980, researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health demonstrated that high-intensity light affects the natural release of melatonin by the pineal gland in the brain. This determined that human physiology is influenced by light. During the fall and winter seasons where daylight is short or nonexistent, less light passes through the eyes, and this inhibits the release of an important brain chemical, serotonin. When serotonin is not released in sufficient quantity, depressive symptoms begin to occur. Melatonin, another important brain chemical, also is affected by insufficient light. The brain releases too much of this chemical. Melatonin is the same hormone that causes bears to hibernate.

Knowing people who suffer from SAD, I’ve been around it and seen its effects. Several people in my family get this during the winter months. Although it is said that 20 percent of Alaskans suffer from it, I believe that everyone who lives here suffers from it to some degree. Some people just happen to endure it more. Taking vitamin D helps because as Alaskans, we don’t get this vitamin because we don’t see the sun. Doing activities that gets your heart rate up helps keeps your mind awake and makes you feel like you are doing something.