Now I know being crass is how Leary makes his living - he was just being questioned by Stewart about his book where he disagrees there's such a thing as autism. But his ignorance has a point - it is trendy to claim to have S.A.D; but very few of the people who claim it actually have it or understand what SAD is. Almost everyone has some degree of seasonality - because of that people cannot seem to understand that SAD is a severe, debilitating mood disorder. And I get tired of ignorant people like Leary claiming that everyone has SAD and mocking it, when what people really have is seasonality.
What SAD is not: Seasonal Affective Disorder is not cabin fever. It is not winter blues. It is not something you get in the dead of winter simply because it is cold and dark out.
One of the astonishing things to emerge from recent research is that most people in northern United States and Europe experience seasonal changes in mood and behavior, also known as seasonality. Norman Rosenthal writes in his ground breaking book Winter Blues. He goes on to add In its most marked form, affecting an estimated 6 percent of the U.S. population, seasonality can cause a great deal of distress and difficulties in functioning both at work and in one's personal life…they are said to be suffering from SAD. Another 14 percent…suffer from a lesser form of seasonality, known as the winter blues.
What's the criteria for SAD?
A marked seasonal cyclical pattern over two or more years: a gradual decline beginning in the fall or late summer, peaking in midwinter, and gradually growing less in the spring is a sign of SAD. Depression that comes on mainly in January/February and leaving with nicer weather is a sign of winter blues.
At least one of these seasonal cycles over the years leading to a major depressive episode requiring professional care.
No clear-cut social or psychological reasons to account for a depression in the winter.
Functioning is impaired to a significant degree: almost complete withdrawal from friends and family, production decreases markedly, marked loss of interest or pleasure, conspicuous changes in energy, sleeping or weight. You have feelings of hopelessness, simple things seem impossibly difficult.
Most people who have SAD developed it in childhood or adolescence.
The book has case studies which are interesting.
It discusses a typical winter blues case "Jeff": his energy would decline each winter. He was less productive in the winter, felt tired even though he was sleeping more, had low energy and difficulty concentrating. When spring came, he bounced back pretty quickly, resuming his normal activities.
The case that interested me most was one that describes me almost perfectly.
Merrill says:
I feel good for only two or three months: May, June, and July. By August my energy level has already begun to slip. I begin to sleep later in the morning, but I can still get to work on time. In September, things are a little worse. My appetite increases, and I begin to crave candy and junk food. By October I begin to withdrawal from friends and I tend to cancel engagements. November marks the onset of real difficulties for me. I become sad and begin to worry about small things that wouldn't bother me at all in the summer… January and February are my worst months. On many days it's all I can do to get into work, and often I don't. Once there, it's very hard to get my work done.
In March and April, my energy begins to come back, and that's a relief, but my thinking is not back to normal, and I continue to feel depressed at times…and then it's late spring and summer and once again I feel myself again: friendly and happy. I can do my work and can be available to the people I care for. But it is so hard to have to cram everything you want to do in three months.
That last really speaks to me - I would say it is impossible to cram everything you want to do in three months, and completely discouraging when you do not manage it. For me, creativity suffers. Winter is one long, frustrating writer's block with self-doubt, despair and self- loathing thrown in. Not only can I not write - I start to believe I will never write again, and that everything I have ever written was not truly writing. If I manage to go out with friends I have difficulty making conversation, and sometimes even following it. Small things like losing at games, getting bad news, feeling ill, all can send me into deep self loathing and despair. Cleaning, cooking, shopping all have multiple things you have to do that feel impossible to manage. I sleep nine to ten hours a day and never feel rested. I wake often in the night and toss and turn until I finally fall asleep about seven am. I value and try to guard my summer against pain and problems because it is terrifying to be depressed in summer and know that much worse is coming. When I was younger I could lose myself in the pleasure of summer and forget that winter is coming. Now the specter of winter hangs over everything I do in the summer - I want to pack things in because I know I will not be able to do them in the winter. Starting out low means that my mood will hit rock-bottom by January and I will have a much more difficult time getting myself to a stable level in the spring. I had a terribly summer this year - and the winter has not been pretty. I don't want to have to go back to the psychologist after having been stable for four years; but may need to if the despair gets worse.