WINTER BLUES: Seasonal Affective Disorder

WINTER BLUES
SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER:
WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT
Norman E. Rosenthal, MD
New York: Guilford Press, 1998 (Revised and Updated)
355 pages, paperback, $15.95
ISBN: 1-57230-395-6

Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg

January and February, with their often gray and overcast days, are the worst months for many people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, aptly nicknamed SAD. Moods in SAD-sufferers turn downward in the fall as days shorten. They lighten only when days grow longer in the spring.

In winter months, people with SAD show profound lethargy, sleep longer (often by several hours), crave carbohydrates, eat more, and gain weight (often 20 pounds), and avoid social interaction. About 1 percent to 5 percent of the population in middle to northern latitudes--an estimated 10 million Americans--report such symptoms.

Norman Rosenthal, MD, gave SAD its name. With his colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health, he pioneered the use of artificial bright light as an effective treatment for the disorder. This book is both a self-help manual and a guide to use of light therapy and other treatments physicians and psychologists recommend.

It's of broader appeal, too, since the majority of people living in the northern United States and Europe report mild seasonal mood changes, that include winter "blahs" or "blues." Such feelings sap energy and cast a pall over activities that usually hold interest or bring pleasure. Some people also experience summer depression. Children and adolescents may experience seasonal mood disorders, too.

Rosenthal describes strategies anyone might use to ease winter depression. These include brightening your environment, paying attention to aspects of diet and exercise that affect mood, practicing stress management techniques, restricting sleep (shown in many studies to help people with depression), and joining support groups. He also discusses psychotherapy for SAD, and antidepressant medications, herbs, and vitamins.

Readers also will find a historical review of calendars and attitudes toward time over time, the ties between depression and seasonality, and between creativity and mental illness, with reports on Emily Dickinson, Gustav Mahler (who called himself a "summer composer"), and other notable creative people, as well as some literary descriptions of seasonality.

An appendix includes sources of light boxes, further readings, and even recipes to help carbohydrate-cravers avoid piling on pounds. This book remains the definitive guide for people with SAD and their families.