January: The sun rises at 7 a.m. and sets at 4:30 p.m. It’s dark driving to work and it’s dark driving home from work. It might be too cold for the outdoors. Some days, you feel depressed.Many people experience mild forms of depression during the cold winter months. They may notice that these moods begin in the late fall and disappear when spring arrives. However, if severe symptoms are clearly associated with the winter months and occur over two consecutive years, a person may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).According to the American Psychiatric Association, between 10 and 20 percent of Americans suffer from at least mild symptoms of SAD. That translates to more than 35 million Americans with more than just the winter blues. Around 70 to 80 percent of SAD sufferers are women, and adults typically experience their first symptoms between their mid-twenties and mid-thirties.The symptoms range in severity from mild winter doldrums to major depressive episodes. While someone with mild symptoms may have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, or crave certain foods (especially carbohydrates) or feel “down,” those who have full-blown SAD may miss work entirely, gain significant amounts of weight and feel seriously depressed.Studies reported in the archives of General Psychiatry and the Journal of Affective Disorders indicates the condition is triggered by disruptions in the circadian rhythms that regulate the body’s clock. As days get shorter, sleep patterns are disrupted, and, more significantly, the brain works harder to produce melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland deep in the brain. Levels of melatonin increase in the dark, and they have been linked to depression.Dr. Michael Terman, director of the winter depression program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, has studied levels of melatonin in patients with SAD in an effort to determine the most affective course of treatment. The subjects in his studies experienced the most relief from SAD systems by using bright light therapy.The specialized high-intensity light boxes mimic early morning full daylight. Their intensity is 2,500 to 120,000 lux, as compared to ordinary home lighting fixtures at 50 to 300 lux. The light box is placed at eye level, and a diffusing lens filters out ultraviolet rays and protects the user’s eyes.Terman found that about 30 minutes of bright light therapy helped relieve depression. But the timing of the therapy is crucial.As Terman reported in the “Columbia University Record” in January 2001, “The best response occurs when light is taken promptly upon waking, 2.5 to 3.5 hours after the midpoint of the depressed patient’s sleep cycle. Short sleepers will use the lights around the time of normal waking, while longer sleepers will need to wake up earlier.”According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “Studies show between 50 percent and 80 percent of users [experience] essentially complete remission of symptoms.”Another more experimental treatment for SAD is the use of negative ion generators. Ions are molecules that have gained or lost an electron, and a negative air ion is usually a molecule of oxygen that has gained an electron. According to studies outlined in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, some have suggested that exposure to negative ions, which are found at higher concentrations at the seashore or following a thunderstorm, relieve symptoms of SAD.Light boxes are available through the Internet for an average price between $150 and $250. The price of negative ion generators averages about $100.People who experience significant symptoms of depression, whether seasonally related or not, should consult a mental health professional.
