Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of depression that appears in fall and winter and improves when spring arrives.

Symptoms of SAD include:

• Feeling irritable and struggling to get along with others
• Changes in appetite and gaining weight
• Feeling tired and sleeping more than usual
• Feeling like your extremities are heavy
• Feeling and very emotional or sensitive, particularly about any type of rejection

People with seasonal bipolar disorder – about 20% of people with bipolar – experience worse symptoms in the fall and winter months, but this is not the same as SAD. A person with SAD experiences only depression, whereas a person with seasonal bipolar experiences both manic and depressive episodes, which get worse with the changing weather.

However, it is more likely for a person with bipolar to go through a depressive episode during fall and winter.

Learn more about SAD below.

From
Yellowbrick Program