Seasonal depression directly impacts a person’s moods, and they cannot force themselves to feel a different way. When the onset comes during the late fall and early winter months, it can cast a dark shadow over a person’s ability to enjoy the holidays and cope with the beginning of the new year. For those whose symptoms begin in warmer weather, seasonal depression makes it difficult to enjoy spring and summer days like so many others do.
Renewal Oasis offers multi-disciplinary treatment for people who suffer from seasonal depression. Our team of experienced therapists uses their expertise to help people discover their own power. This empowers them to ease the symptoms of seasonal depression. We also provide access to prescription medications for either short-term usage or to be taken over a longer period of time. These meds help a person gain control of their depression and enjoy more elevated moods.
What is Seasonal Depression?
Seasonal depression is also known as seasonal affective disorder and can strike anyone. It is a type of depression, which is a mental illness. Season depression happens around the same time each year.
The most common time for seasonal depression to occur is during the fall and winter months. The mood change starts as the days become shorter and the weather colder. For about 10% of those who have seasonal depression, the symptoms begin during the spring or early summer. The longer days and warmer weather trigger their depressive symptoms. In both cases, once the seasons change again, the person’s symptoms begin to subside and they have a more positive outlook.
Causes
Seasonal depression happens to more women than men, but can still strike a person of any age, race, gender, or economic status. When the days become shorter and produce less sunlight, a chemical change can take place in a person’s brain. This change causes the person to experience symptoms of depression, hopelessness, and sadness. They cannot control their moods and end up waiting out the season until the change in daylight hours and weather helps them feel better.
Symptoms
The symptoms of seasonal depression can vary in length and intensity per person, and the most common ones include:
- Depression
- Hopelessness
- Crying
- Feeling less able to function during specific times of the year
- Difficulty thinking and making choices
- Sleeping excessively
- Isolating and avoiding family or social interactions
- Lethargy
- A change in weight or appetite
- Decrease in sex drive
- Medical symptoms with no explanation, such as nausea, diarrhea, body aches, and headaches
Ways to Treat Seasonal Depression
Seasonal depression can encompass a person’s life and cause them to believe no treatment is available to help improve their symptoms. The good is that both professional and at-home measures can be taken to help the individual improve their symptoms and feel more in control.
At Home
One of the most effective ways to combat seasonal affective disorder is to engage in light therapy. The individual purchases a lamp that reproduces the effects of natural sunlight and is used inside their home. The person sits by the lamp for a specific amount of time daily so that their body can absorb the healing power of the appliance. They can do this while doing activities like working on their computer, watching television, reading, or just sitting peacefully.
Another way to combat seasonal depression at home is for the person to get outside and expose themselves to real sunlight. Doing this several times a week, even in cold weather, can help improve how they feel. Even sitting next to a window with a good measure of sunlight coming from it can prove helpful.
For someone who gets seasonal depression during the late fall and winter months, adapting their sleep schedule can help. If they go to sleep at an early hour and get up when the sun is just up, this helps them limit the time they are awake during the hours of darkness.
Professional Treatment Options
Seasonal depression can be treated by participating in the right level of care for each person’s needs. For instance, these include residential care, which takes place in a homelike facility and provides round-the-clock care. On the other hand, for those whose symptoms do not require residential care, outpatient treatment works well. This includes a Partial Hospitalization Program, an Intensive Outpatient Program, and an Outpatient Program.
Different types of therapy are offered at all levels of professional care. Using a combination of them provides each person with the best chance to help understand their illness and reduce their symptoms. The types of therapy that work best for seasonal depression include:
- Individual Therapy: The person meets privately with a therapist to discuss how they experience their depression and ways to combat it.
- Holistic Therapy: This approach treats the body, mind, and spirit simultaneously to help heal a person in full.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: CBT enables the person to identify their negative thought patterns and help improve their symptoms by developing healthy coping skills.
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: This type of therapy helps people with treatment-resistant depression. It stimulates the brain using a non-invasive procedure and results in a reduction in the person’s depressive symptoms.
Contact Renewal Oasis to Treat Seasonal Depression
Do you dread the time of year that triggers your seasonal depression? You’re not alone because many people struggle with this mental health disorder and find their emotions are quite depressing for an extended part of the year. Fortunately, Renewal Oasis operates a program that specifically targets seasonal depression and helps minimize the symptoms it causes. With Our combination of evidence-based therapies and any necessary prescriptions helps make the tough time of the year for you become less of a problem.
Contact us today to find out more about how you can keep seasonal depression from overshadowing your world. Help is just a phone call away.
Published: 1/27/2025