Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)
Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)
Many people silently suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and aren’t aware. The winter months when the weather is colder, it’s darker for longer outside and the days are shorter are especially troublesome for people who suffer from this mood disorder.
SAD goes beyond general feelings of unhappiness. It is usually brought on by the onset of reduced sunlight in the colder months when the change to the body’s internal clock can cause a person to start to have degrees of feeling depressed, hopeless, lethargy or withdrawal from social situations.
Serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter responsible for impacting mood, can drop with reduced sunlight. This could be one cause for SAD. For many people SAD begins in the fall, peaks in winter and starts to reduce when spring comes back around. Melatonin is a sleep-related hormone also associated with SAD. The body naturally produces more melatonin when it’s dark, leading to more feelings of fatigue when it’s darker outside.
Lots of people feel a little down or have the “winter blues” but true SAD can lead to serious depression and should be treated, especially for those who have a history of the below disorders:
- Bipolar disorder
- Anxiety
- Depressive disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Live in high altitudes regions (such as England or Alaska)
- Live in a commonly cloudy or overcast area (such as Washington State)
- Have been diagnosed with ADHD
- Have been diagnosed with another mood disorder
How is SAD Diagnosed?
Diagnosing SAD can be tricky, but doctors can conduct a psychological assessment to help diagnose and treat SAD. Your doctor may ask about your lifestyle, sleeping habits, thoughts and mood. They may also inquire about your family history and do a physical exam, including blood tests and possibly thyroid tests to rule out potential physical ailments. Your doctor will also inquire about the depressive episodes and when they commonly occur. To qualify as SAD, the episodes of depression must occur during specific seasons or two consecutive months.
When in the midst of SAD, it is important to remember that you did nothing wrong to bring on the disorder. Getting treatment as soon as possible is important, but treatment of any kind doesn’t provide an overnight solution. It’s about making strides in the right direction so things will progressively get better a little every day. Remember, seek the help of family and friends if you feel you may be experiencing SAD.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a great way to help reduce the symptoms of SAD. HBOT is a non-invasive therapy that involves breathing in oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Many people have reported being helped with everything from a traumatic brain injury to depression using HBOT, and not just for physical improvements of conditions.
HBOT works as a natural solution to dealing with this season mood disorder.
Adding therapeutic light therapy to the mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers can also aid in relief. Light therapy, also called photo bio-modulation is another non-invasive and painless therapy used in combination for SAD. Light therapy helps bring healing energy to the body with near infrared red and blue light waves. Light therapy could possibly help bring a chemical change to the brain which may help uplift your mood and reduce SAD symptoms.
In Light Hyperbarics offers light therapy as a free service when used inside of our mild hyperbaric chambers, and we offer other light therapy modalities as a standalone service to add to your protocol. We want to help you get the healing you need when you need it, as naturally as possible.
Reducing SAD symptoms with HBOT & Light Therapy
In Light Hyperbarics offers light therapy as a free service when used inside of our mild hyperbaric chambers. It can also be a standalone service in a zero-gravity chair or our other light beds and pads throughout the office. There is no prescription needed for light therapy treatments. We want to help you get the healing you need when you need it, as naturally as possible.