Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder

The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) are similar to those of normaldepression, but they occur repetitively at a particular time of year.

They usually startin theautumn or winter and improve in the spring.

The nature and severity of SAD varies from person to person. Some people just find the condition a bit irritating, while for others it can be severe and have a significant impact on their day-to-day life.

Depression

Most people with SAD will feel depressed during the autumn and winter.

Signs that you may be depressed include:

• a persistent low mood
• aloss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
• feelingirritable
• feelings of despair,guilt and worthlessness
• low self-esteem
• tearfulness
• feeling stressed or anxious
• a reduced sex drive
• becoming less sociable

A small number of people will experience these symptoms in phases that are separated by"manic" periods wherethey feel happy, energetic and much more sociable.

Othersymptoms

In addition to symptoms of depression, you may also:

• be less active than normal
• feellethargic (lacking inenergy)and sleepy during the day
• sleepfor longerthan normal and find ithard to get up in the morning
• find it difficultto concentrate
• have an increased appetite some people have a particular craving for foods containing lots ofcarbohydratesand end up gaining weight as a result

These symptoms may make everydayactivities increasingly difficult.

When to see your GP

You should see your GP if you think you might have SAD and you're finding it difficult to cope.

There are a number of helpful treatments your GP maybe able to recommend.

andtreatingSAD.