Diagnosing seasonal affective disorder

Visit your GP if you havesymptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Effective treatments are available if you're diagnosed with the condition.

Your GP may carry out a psychological assessment to check your mental health. They may ask about:

• your mood
• your lifestyle
• your eating and sleeping patterns
• any seasonal changes in your thoughts and behaviour
• whether your symptomsprevent you from carrying out normal activities
• whether there's anything in your personalhistory that may contribute to a depressive disorder, such as child abuse
• whether there's anything in your family history that may contribute to a depressive disorder, such as a family history ofdepression

Your GP may also carry out a brief physical examination.

Confirming SAD

SAD can be difficultto diagnose because there are many other types of depression that have similar symptoms.

It may thereforetake several years before you and your GP realise that your symptoms are forming a regular pattern.

A diagnosis of SAD can usually be confirmed if:

• yourdepression occurs at a similar time each year
• the periods of depression are followed by periods without depression
• you've hadsymptoms during the sametime of yearfor two or more years in a row