Could You Have Seasonal Affective Disorder?
- Increased desire to sleep
- Craving high-carbohydrate foods
- Sadness
- Decreased energy levels during short winter days
- Winter weight gain
Remedies include: exercise, increasing your exposure to outdoor light (even on cloudy days), using bright lights inside, light therapy boxes, postponing ambitious resolutions until spring, and other skills I can give you for coping. Counseling for depression and anxiety, getting depression help are critical for making it through until spring arrives. The use of antidepressants among Americans has increased 400 percent since the late 1980s, yet less than a third of those taking a drug have seen a mental health professional in the last year.
You Could Have Seasonal Affective Disorder
New Year’s Resolutions?
Maybe Not…
Winter’s short days and cold weather, coupled with post-holiday exhaustion, may mean this is not your best time to begin ambitious changes. Set very small goals in the beginning, and applaud your success as you go. Medication for anxiety or depression without concurrent” talk” therapy is merely masking the problem without a long term solution.