Video: Podcast #27 Seasonal Depression

Introduction:
Thanks for clicking on Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling. I’m Curtis Smith and I invite you to subscribe to our podcast and to like and share it as well. I hope you enjoy today’s episode.

Curtis: Hi everyone. Welcome to Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling. I’m Curtis Smith, your host, and joining me today is one of the great counselors here at Crosswinds Counseling, Brendon Lengacher. Brendon, how are you?

Brendon: Doing well. How are you?

Curtis: I am doing well as well. We’re into November Brendon, and we’re talking today about something that it’s the right time of the season to talk about. It’s Seasonal Affective Disorder often referred to as SAD, and I think it’s been something – I’m certainly no counselor but it’s been something I’ve been aware of for a number of years. I think most people have either heard of it or are somewhat aware of it, but for those who aren’t, what is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Brendon: Yeah I think it is something that is very common, that a lot of people have heard of, and it’s one of those things that is kind of just there underlying a lot of the cultural consciousness, but we don’t often kind of go above that and actually talk about it. So it’s often referred to as SAD for short. I’m a big fan of puns so I like to make that joke with my clients a lot. Like oh you got the sads, like okay cool you should around this time. It is something that affects you. So when we think about it we break it down, seasonal. It’s often times, we see especially around November. We can even see it start as early as October where people will start to be impacted by shorter days. Sunlight starting to fade, and we can start to notice symptoms of depression or that feel very similar to a depressive episode kicking in.

Curtis: So, in a lot of ways it is essentially depression, but more focused around a season where days are shorter, and there’s less sunlight. Are there other things that trigger it? I guess I have two questions. Are there other things that trigger it, but also are there things that differentiate it from what you might classify as a “normal depression.”

Brendon: Yeah. Great questions. So, because of the light piece, that does tend to be one of the biggest factors. While a lot of research does tend to show that the light will have an impact, it’s not something that we’ve conclusively proven one way or the other. But it does seem to be that light is the biggest factor with the increase of depressive symptoms during the darker seasons and the winter months. And I think also that’s where it can feel very similar to depression. We see a lot of similar symptoms such as, you know you lose interest in things that you’re normally interested in. We can see lower energy. We often times see disrupted sleep, but one thing that the research is tending to show with Seasonal Affective Disorder is that instead of insomnia we’re seeing the opposite end of it. We’re seeing people oversleep when they’re having symptoms that line up with SAD. So we’re seeing kind of an oversleeping. And we’ll also see some – a lot more cravings for heavy like carbohydrate sort of foods because it kind of prepares you for winter in the sense that we’re trying to hibernate almost.

Curtis: Yeah, so maybe just a reluctance to get up and face the world causing you to stay in bed. Is that a fair assessment?

Brendon: It could be some of that. I also think that another big part of it is the way that our brains seem to really react to light is that overhead light tells your brain to be awake and when the light is either below your field of vision or is not overhead your brain says okay it’s time to start winding down. And so as the days shorten and as there’s less light overall, I think our bodies naturally kind of tend to go into this more resting state.

Curtis: Interesting.

Brendon: And it makes it easier to sleep more, and oversleep.

Curtis: Yeah. How much of a factor are the holidays? I know we carved out time on this podcast recently with Phil Ericson where we specifically talk about holiday-related stress and triggers there, but do the holidays factor into SAD for people.

Brendon: I think it’s probably a case-by-case basis, but I also can’t imagine that it’s not.

Curtis: Yeah.

Brendon: Each of these things could be connected, but they can also be their own separate thing.

Curtis: Yeah, but typically you said it would start in November maybe back in October. Does it typically go through January or February like how long is SAD usually impacting someone?

Brendon: Yeah, I think some of the research is showing that it can last even up until May.

Curtis: Wow.

Brendon: So if we take that chunk of time and look at it on the calendar if it starts in October and it goes all the way to May…

Curtis: That’s more than half the year.

Brendon: Yeah, it’s a huge chunk of time.

Curtis: Wow, so here’s the million-dollar question. What do you do about it? If you have SAD, what can you do?

Brendon: Yeah, I think there are a couple really simple options. Now simple to understand, not always easy to implement, especially when we’re feeling down or feeling some depressive symptoms. So therapy is always obviously a good option. We see a lot of good outcomes there and oftentimes therapy can especially be helpful in creating a plan that’s really going to be tailored for what you need and how the Seasonal Affective Disorder is impacting you and how some of those symptoms impact you. So I always encourage therapy. One fun fact that I learned recently is that we’re high enough up on the equator in Indiana that we never actually get any Vitamin D from the Sun regardless of what time of year it is.

Curtis: Really?

Brendon: It’s like a wild placebo effect during the summer so we feel great, but we’re not actually getting any of the good stuff that we need. So talking to your doctor about a vitamin D supplement could be really really helpful.

Curtis: And that felt like an endorsement to move from Indiana Brendon.

Brendon: As much as I love Indiana, you know maybe there’s some places that feel warmer that uh seem like it’d be a little bit better sometimes.

Curtis: So this idea of people go to Florida or whatever for spring break and they feel better that that’s not just baloney.

Brendon: No.

Curtis: There’s something real to that.

Brendon: Yeah, we got some chemical pieces behind that – really have an impact there, that’s helpful.

Curtis: That actually makes me sad. You like puns. Um I’m sad to learn that. I’ve always assumed because I am one that likes the sun, and I like to go out, and in summer it feels like, ‘Oh, this is better for me. It feels better. I really enjoy getting out and seeing the sun,’ and now I know it’s just my mind.

Brendon: Yeah. On some level though I think that speaks to the power of what light does for us, and so that’s kind of the perfect segue. I would encourage people to look up a light therapy lamp. You can get them on Amazon. Part of what that’s going to do is it’s going to give you that nice Placebo, but also it’s going to help reset your and solidify your circadian rhythm because oftentimes that’s where we see the sleep disruption. Because a lot of our circadian rhythm with our sleep is related to when we’re getting light, and so if you wake up in the morning – you get some light in right after you wake up. That’s something that’s going to help solidify your sleep schedule, and one of the other things that you can do is, if you can wake up at a consistent time most days out of the week that’s going to help ward off a lot of depressive symptoms as well.

Curtis: Interesting. How does it work where… I guess the question is, can SAD become full-time full-on depression, like, how do I know I have SAD versus I’m actually depressed? I mean it sounds like it might go away by May, but maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’ve had SAD for years, and it kicks in, and then this year it doesn’t seem like it’s going away. Is that a thing where SAD kind of turns into a full-time full-on depression?

Brendon: It absolutely can, and especially if we think about it in terms of how we’re taking care of ourselves. I think one of the biggest differences that we’ll see is that if it’s seasonal, it will stay within that, you know October/November start time, to maybe that March/April end time – at least it should be getting better if we’re dealing with something seasonal. If it goes beyond that, that’s where you’ll want to consider that okay, maybe I do have more things going on here. Maybe this is a deeper form of depression. And we can kind of think of it like a spectrum. So oftentimes the seasonal stuff will pop up seasonally but if it goes away, you can put a lot of things in your life that will help you be able to deal with it. If you start to notice those symptoms continuing, getting worse, you’re having disruptions in your sleep where you’re waking up more, or you’re having trouble falling asleep, if we notice an increase in thoughts about suicide, something like that, those can all be signs that it might be something deeper than just seasonal.

Curtis: Wow. A lot to chew on and this is the right time of the season to chew on it because I think it does impact a lot of people. Do you see a lot of clients who are either coming to you at this time of the year or they’re with you throughout the year, but things get worse – symptoms get worse this time of the year?

Brendon: Yeah, I think that it’s it’s one of those things where when the sun’s out it seems like people will taper back a little bit on therapy because they feel better, but then when the sun starts to go away, we get into those winter months, people will really start coming back and needing the support therapy can offer because of it.

Curtis: Well, if you have SAD, or if you have depression for sure, Crosswinds Counseling is a great option for you. We have many wonderful counselors like Brendon. So Brendon, thank you for spending some time with us today talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder. Thank you for being with us. We’ll see you next time on the podcast.

Outro:
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