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Are you becoming concerned that your bout with wintertime blues has lasted longer, or is more intense than you have previously experienced? How can you tell whether this is merely a temporary problem, or whether you could be facing a serious case of Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD? Do you need to seek medical help? Find out about the symptoms of SAD, how this disorder affects sufferers, and those treatments that are most useful.

SAD is more than just feeling sad when the weather is bad. SAD starts to develop when the fall season begins to change to winter and daylight hours are shortened. Symptoms usually start at some point between September and November. Furthermore, because of the severity and consequences of SAD and other types of depression, physicians need extensive evidence of the condition before they are willing to make a definite diagnosis. Even though symptoms may be very severe, physicians do not usually diagnose a person with SAD before he or she shows strong evidence of the disorder for a minimum of three winters in a row.

People who suffer from this disorder start to have feelings of sadness, decreased enthusiasm, and often sleep for long periods. Furthermore, they develop a dependence on sugar or sweets. In addition, most people diagnosed with SAD also have poor immune system functioning. Frequently, they find themselves becoming ill much more easily than people who do not have SAD.

SAD can negatively decrease an individual's ability to function professionally or at school. This decreased motivation can make getting out of bed or engaging in one's usual daily activities difficult. Sufferers have trouble participating in social encounters, or even at home. These persons frequently have episodes of extreme panic and negativity. Occasionally, symptoms become severe and distressing enough that people even think about suicide and require hospitalization for therapy.

Not surprisingly, females seem to experience SAD more frequently than men do. Additionally, this disorder seems to get better each year when spring arrives. Indeed, in March or April, symptoms usually decrease or resolve altogether - until the following autumn. This is the case even in states that tend to be dismal all year long. In fact, as many as twenty percent of the people diagnosed with seasonal depression will at some point develop symptoms of bipolar disorder.

These sufferers are usually depressed during wintertime, but report normal moods during the remainder of the year. At times, however, people report experiencing instances of unexpected mood elevation, also known as mania. As with other types of depression, SAD can become quite severe or even disabling if left untreated. Moreover, many individuals suffer from very mild levels of SAD; they may struggle with exhaustion, lack of motivation, and eating difficulties. These individuals, however, rarely suffer episodes of depressed moods or anxiety.

This kind of depression is relatively rare in sunny areas such as Tennessee, southern California, and even Colorado. In contrast, people who reside in states with many cloudy days, such as Indiana, Illinois, or Oregon are at higher risk for developing this condition. Citizens of countries including Denmark, Germany, and England also struggle with SAD.

Medical researchers have used a number of alternative approaches to help people recover from this exhausting problem. They have tried placing people under artificial light in an attempt to aid them to produce more serotonin and decrease depression symptoms. Researchers have also used medicines such as antidepressants, and supplements, such as melatonin, trying to relieve these symptoms of depression. Many persons who have SAD also visit psychiatrists when they are suffering most greatly.

All of these therapies have been used with different amounts of success. Despite this, all are definitely more costly and require more time than two more recent, innovative techniques. Hypnotherapy practitioners have perfected the art of coaching clients to learn both NLP and self-hypnosis techniques for depression. Using self-hypnosis, clients learn to talk themselves out of a depressive period and resolve their symptoms. These useful treatments, hypnotherapy and NLP, have proven to have an astonishing degree of benefit in helping people to recover from, and prevent future occurrences of SAD.

Summary: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that recurs each year at almost the same time. Only individuals who face this problem are able to determine whether they will continue battling the symptoms alone, over and over, or to try to get help in resolving this problem forever. Hypnosis and NLP to treat seasonal depression are both beneficial, innovative therapies that offer a quick escape from these feelings without spending enormous resources in terms of money or energy.