Solutions for SAD sufferers

I found this amazing article about SAD suffering, which is reaching its peak now as the stress and joy of the holidays falls away, leaving us with cold, dark, and dreary (or, if you live in the Northeast, unseasonably warm, dark, and dreary). I was particularly interested in the supplement SAM-e, which I have heard of in passing only. It's refreshing when a medical site recognizes that non-drug treatments can be useful for addressing depression. This particular post gave me the impression that there was some commercial reason for the supplement's promotion, but I am going to do more research on my own and see if the research bears out the claims from this article.

My misgivings notwithstanding, I'm glad to see real research on treatments that may have less side effects. Of course not all options will work for all victims, but that's why I advocate for a variety of treatment options being made available, so the best ones can be found for the individual.

As I side note, I really hate the term "feeling blue" in this context. I think it minimizes the seriousness of depression and sends a message that it's a disease that is not taken seriously.

Use Holidays Properly

Why are there so many holidays in December and January? We have Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, St. Lucia's Day, and all manner of variations on those, as will as ancillary celebrations (such as Advent). In one form or another, these celebrations focus on happiness or light. Celebrations of light, all clustered around the longest night of the year? Surely this is not a random occurrence. Obviously the human spirit craves light and the life it brings, and the dark times of less activity and more eating are being offset by singing, candles, parties (okay, that's also a handy excuse for eating), and opportunities to spend time with other people: cultural and religious offsets to the physiological reactions to winter. We understand that times of cold and darkness can wear away at our resolve, and we fight back by creating a flurry of activities aimed, purportedly, at joyfulness at this darkest time. Hopefully it's enough to carry us through the remaining ice and snow as the days grow longer.

Enter depression, subtle twister of goodness.

Looking at the world through the unwholesome filter of depression can make a good thing into a painful experience. Holidays are designed to bring people together; you just want to be left alone. They encourage you to give; you're overwhelmed by the idea of shopping, or terrified that you'll choose the wrong item. Indoor creative crafts flourish; your mind is a pile of mush and you're sure you can create or decorate anything.

If you've read this blog for any amount of time you know that it's my firm belief that depression has physiological, psychological, and spiritual components, and gleefully will attack you on all those fronts. This is a time of year when it can use the forces of nature (less sunlight and warmth) as its strength, overwhelming the forces of culture (social activities, giving and happiness). Well if it will use the momentum of the year, you can too.

Go to the parties, even if you sit by yourself. Joy is also an infectious disease, and if you expose yourself to it you may find that you catch it. Surround yourself with people that won't judge you for your failings - there is no better time of year to find the goodness in your fellow man than right now. Sing and don't care how you sound. If buying gifts is too expensive or you hate the crowds, try making your own and (here's the trick) stop caring if they're perfect. Spend some time volunteering as a Santa or Salvation Army bell-ringer. Force yourself to be in situations where you will be exposed to the goodness of humanity.

All the drugs in the world will not get you out of bed. Your therapist and your gods cannot do this for you either. Depression is working very, very hard to convince you that you have no power, no worth, no purpose. Set yourself a schedule of things to do, things that intellectually you know are good at this time of year, and stick to it no matter what. You will find many, many excuses to avoid positive, social activities, because the more of them you engage in the more the depression will fight back and try to suck you back in. That's why I suggest literally writing down (or getting a friend to, if you must) your holiday activities and going through the motions. Sooner or later the habit will find its way in deeper, helping out whatever treatments you might have going for you.

And then you'll discover the most amazing gift of all - that you can.

Wellbutrin and SAD

I think the most promising thing about this discussion of Wellbutrin is that it's only recommended to be taken during the dark months. It's very easy to get into a maintenance program with depression, and it's often not necessary. Long-term medication creates a dependence in a way that isn't defined by the scientific community; it's a belief that develops that one cannot be well without a drug, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you're depressed you're already extremely susceptible to the belief that you are simply not a strong person, and drugs can easily reinforce that by becoming a security blanket. Properly used, a medication for most depression victims should be a trainer, showing their minds what health looks like so that they can reproduce it in themselves.

That being said, I'm glad that Wellbutrin might be useful for SAD sufferers. If it gets you through the darkest times, and allows you enough energy and motivation to modify your behavior for health (exercising, exposing yourself to more sunlight), then it could be a godsend for many. Only for a very small percentage of depression victims is a permanent drug solution logical. And I know how you think if you're depressed, so let me make this clear: you're not one of that small percentage. Don't believe it. The light is inside you, and the drug is only a tool that can bring you back to the level where you can find and use what you've had all along.

Dark Times Ahead

Seasonal Affective Disorder is really only the beginning. You don't have to be crippled badly enough by the season alone to have it really affect you negatively. "Winter blues" leads to a lack of energy and a desire to eat more in all of us to some extent, and if you're otherwise depressed this can compound your symptoms.

The metaphor of darkness and light works well with depression because darkness and light have very significant physiological effects upon us. Diurnal is the standard behavior cycle for most living things, and even though we humans can act against type, we are generally responsive to having light in our lives. Darkness is a time of hibernation, introspection, preparing for the light to return. Sunlight encourages us to think, to act, to experience outwardly rather than inwardly. Both are perfectly normal and healthy and we need a balance between focusing on within versus focusing on without. With depression, though, darkness takes precedence, and the darkness that is created within magnifies the darkness in the world until it's unbearable.

You might be eating more and feel guilt over the weight you're gaining, or think you're gaining. Or you're less motivated to exercise. Or when the sun sets at 4:30 in the afternoon it feels like all the light in your life is vanishing with it.

The light box described in the link is probably not necessary for someone who is depressed but not specifically prone to SAD. However, daily walks in the daylight will get your blood flowing, expose you to sunlight, and get you the exercise you need anyway. You don't want to exercise if you're depressed (since depression discourages you from doing anything that might benefit you), and this is just compounded by the time of year.

The sunlight is going to be diminishing for a few more weeks. Make an extra effort to get outside, even if it's cold out. Buy a full-spectrum bulb or two if you can. Set your alarm for the same time every day and get up, no matter how much you don't want to. It's going to turn around soon, and before long you'll see that the light creeps in a little earlier and lingers a bit longer than it had been. Don't be afraid to make a note of the time so you recognize the increased light more quickly. The light always returns. That's a promise.