Beyond the Winter Blues: The Impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder
(ABC 6 News) – Kelsey Hameister has been dealing with depression for more than a decade.
“I can speak to actually most recently this last October,” she said. “I didn’t get out of bed for three weeks.”
Since she was a teenager, she’d been on and off medication.
“I couldn’t eat… I couldn’t use the bathroom… My hair got matted to the back.”
A mom of four, the weight of her own mind kept her from doing anything at times.
“I felt like I had chains wrapped on my legs and my hands they were just dragging.”
Like millions of other Americans, Kelsey’s mood is impacted by the change of seasons. Two in every five say their mood worsens during the winter, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
However, for some, like Kelsey, it can be much worse.
In 2021, Kelsey was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and PTSD, conditions that already impact her mood.
The change of seasons simply adds on it, sometimes in more ways than one.
“Seasonal depression, in addition to seeing how it shows up during the actual changes in the seasons, there are what are called atypical symptoms that go along with this,” said Dr. Craig Sawchuk, a psychologist with Mayo Clinic.
“From a mood standpoint, while you can certainly have people describe feeling sad, you can also get people describing feeling a lot more apathetic or more of a ‘blah’ type of sense.”
There’s also hypersomnia – an intense feeling of fatigue that increases an individual’s desire to sleep more frequently then normal.
At some of her worst times, Kelsey said she would sleep for 20 out of the 24 hours in a day.
There are many factors that affect the development of seasonal affective disorder.
One of the most commonly understood is the amount of light distribution that occurs at different times of year. Winter typically has shorter days and longer nights, making it consistently much darker than in the spring or summer.
Other factors include genetic vulnerabilities to seasonal changes or how sensitive someone’s eyes are to different amounts of light.
Often, though, dealing with the depressive symptoms can be as difficult as the feelings themselves.
“Talk therapy, light therapy, medication,” says Dr. Yolanda Segal, a privately practicing psychologist. “Some thing work for some and not for others so it’s kind of like trial and error to see what works best for you.”
Light therapy is one of the most popular methods for treating seasonal affective disorder, mimicking the light of the sun with an indoor device to stimulate the same response.
Different types of lights exist but experts recommend as bright of light as possible, something like 10,000 lux, as the brighter the light the less amount of time you have to spend under it to get the same effect.
Experts also say each individual will respond to treatments differently, so it’s better to talk with a doctor or licensed psychologist before making any decisions.
For Kelsey, her depression, seasonal or not, is a constant battle.
“I still struggle with it some days,” she said. “What I’m supposed to do, who I’m supposed to be, how I’m supposed to act.”
But it’s one she’s willing to fight for her family.
“Now, I have a healthy relationship. My kids are in a healthy place. We’re settled.”
“And I’m back out in the community.”
If you struggle with mental illness, check out some of the resources listed below: