For some people, the winter blues can become a form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This mood disorder strikes about the same time each year, beginning in the fall and gradually worsens, peaking in January and February.

“The symptoms become most severe after the holidays,” says Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal, a world-renowned psychiatrist, best-selling author and clinical professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine, who first coined the term SAD.

“When I was at the National Institute of Mental Health I came across people who reported becoming depressed regularly in the winter and then feeling better in the summer,” he tells Newsmax Health.

“I realized that I suffered from similar problems though not so severely since moving to the United States from sunny South Africa. That gave me the conviction that this regular seasonal mood problem — or Seasonal Affective Disorder — was something worth investigating. I thought of the acronym SAD because it would be easy for people to remember and the name stuck."

Rosenthal estimates that about 5 percent of the U.S. population suffer from the problem severely enough that if affects their work and personal lives to a significant degree. A further 15 percent suffer less severely, he says, from a condition more accurately called, “the winter blues.”

“Therefore approximately one in five adults in the U.S. is negatively affected by the dark, short days of winter,” he says, adding that the typical profile of a sufferer is a woman between her 20s and 40s who experiences loss of energy, increased need for sleep, increased appetite, weight gain and a decreased sense of well being. The symptoms typically last for up to five months.

“That said, SAD can effect anybody — men, children, and adolescents,” says Rosenthal.
The three main causes of SAD are genetic vulnerability (meaning that the condition runs in families), lack of light, and increased stress.

“The easiest way to treat SAD is to increase environmental light,” says Rosenthal. “And the best way to do that is getting outdoors on a bright winter day, putting your bedside lamp on a time so it goes on a half hour before you wake in the morning and sitting for 30 minutes in front of special light fixtures that have been specifically crafted to deliver the right amount of light for people suffering from SAD.”

Dr. James Greenblatt, chief medical officer at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, Mass., tells Newsmax Health that nutrition can play a critical role in treating the symptoms.

“The most common nutritional deficiency seen is with vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin made in the human body from exposure to ultra violet light. Vitamin D levels are stored in the body and often times become low during the winter months,” he says. “It’s important to check vitamin D levels twice a year, once at the end of the summer and once early in the new year. This will provide a guide to how much you may need to supplement.”

Greenblatt says that other crucial nutrients associated with SAD include zinc, magnesium, folate, and omega-3 fatty acids.

“These nutritional supplements can easily be added if there are signs or symptoms of the disorder,” he says. “Folate is particularly helpful for those individuals who have genetic changes associated with improper utilization of folate. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be very helpful in treating depression associated with SAD. Magnesium and zinc are important trace minerals that facilitate the synthesis of neurotransmitters which are helpful in dealing with this condition.”

Dr. Judith S. Beck, president of Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, tells Newsmax Health that besides eating right — including lots of lean protein, fruit and vegetables, a little fat, and avoiding too many carbohydrates — people with SAD should remain active.

“The worst thing you can do is sit on your couch or lie in bed feeling depressed,” she says. “Almost anything else is better, whether it is tackling a small task like doing laundry or a bigger task like spending 20 minutes organizing your photos.”

Beck recommends reaching out to other people, especially family and friends who are upbeat, optimistic and compassionate.

“Say yes to every invitation you can, even if you predict you won’t have a good time,” she says. “Respond to text and messages as soon as you get them.”

Stick to your regular exercise routine as many studies have shown that exercise can help people overcome mild to moderate depression.

“Respond to your depressed thinking,” Beck advises. “Either acknowledge it’s unhelpful and turn your focus elsewhere or try to figure out to what degree your thinking is accurate or inaccurate. Individuals who are depressed can have hundreds of thousands of erroneous and unhelpful thoughts. It’s as if they are looking at the world and their experience through the darkest glasses imaginable. With good treatment, you can scrape away all the black and see your true reality.”