Seasonal Affective Disorder :: essays research papers

seasonal Affective Disorder Lighting the WayPamela Johnson"Whoever wishes to pursue the science of treat in a direct manner must first examine the seasons of the year and what occurs in them." Hippocrates (6)Introduction As the shortest day of the year approaches, more than and more multi-colored climb downs and bright, festive decorations are splashed across houses and yards everywhere. Long ago, in more earthy times, people celebrated the solstice because it was the rebirth of the sun, when days began to prolong and light began to return. As our ancient ancestors probably realized, their celebrations helped to keep spirits up when times were dark and cold, just as our modern holiday light displays function as a way to ward off the passtime blues. (1) However, not everybody can shake the sadness that comes at this time of year, unremarkably because they are suffering from a type of clinical depression called seasonal spieler Affective Disorder (SAD). When a person has SAD, he or she regularly experiences depression in the winter months that then subsides in the spring and pass months. Although first identified around 1845, this mood disorder was not formally classified until 1984 when psychiatrist Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., began to study cases of depression that seemed to occur during the winter only. (2) After an article was published in The Washington Post closely his research, Rosenthal received a nationwide response from thousands of people who experienced the aforementioned(prenominal) symptoms he had observed in his patients. (3). After further research he compiled his studies in Winter Blues Seasonal Affective Disorder What It Is and How to batter It, which he recently revised, updated, and rereleased in October 1998. Causes Although the cause of this disorder is attributed to the lack of word-painting to sunlight, it has not yet been determined whether a persons susceptibility to it is genetic or tension-related or both. Dr. Rosenthal finds the causes of SAD to be "a combination of factors including shortened daylight, stress and genetic vulnerability." (4). By means of his research, he calculated that some change of depression is experienced by at least 14 per centum of the population due to the decrease of exposure to sunlight in the winter. many an(prenominal) scientists feel SAD is "a product of modern society that bound us indoors," with stress levels easily increased by a work environment in which one hardly ever sees the sun. (4). Also,