Britt Brown Mobile LMT

Hosted By – Britt L. Brown LMT

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Hey there listeners, welcome back to the body care breakdown podcast, I am your host Britt Brown LMT. Today we’ll be breaking down the causes and symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as S.A.D., and fondly referred to by myself as “The Big S.A.D.”. We’ll also be exploring all of the weird and wonderful ways we can care for our bodies and our minds, and learning how we can thrive through S.A.D. rather than just “live with it” but first, we’ll need to define Seasonal Affective Disorder for those of our listeners who might be less familiar. Important note – the exact cause of S.A.D. is unknown, but there are several factors that have been shown to play a key role in S.A.D., so with that all being said – let’s break it down!

Now I know there are probably at least a few listeners out there thinking – “seasonal affective disorder, what’s that?!” Well, have you ever heard of “the winter blues” or “seasonal depression”? Those are the common names often used when referring to Seasonal Affective Disorder, and they’re all describing the same thing – a form of major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. In the case of S.A.D. we see a pattern of depression occurring most often due to a lack of sunlight leading to a reduction in vitamin D production in the body.

Vitamin D plays a key role in our body’s serotonin production – a neurotransmitter responsible for mood regulation and sleep regulation, as well as influencing our ability to learn and memorize information. A lack of vitamin D has also been thought to play a significant role in feelings of increased anxiety, depression, and mania. Hearing all of that you might assume that S.A.D. occurs only during the Fall-Winter season, but you’d be wrong.

In fact, there are people (though there are fewer of them) who experience symptoms of S.A.D. in the summer. This is usually due to an increase in daylight hours affecting sleeping patterns, an increase in irritability due to heat, as well as mania and/or hypomania. We also see a reduction in the production of melatonin (a hormone that helps regulate mood and sleep) during the summer months. I feel like I know at least one person who falls into the Summer S.A.D. group, what about you? I mean, I know folks who absolutely dread the summer and start getting excited for pumpkin spiced lattes in August, you know what I’m sayin’?

Depending on which group you fall into – Winter S.A.D. or Summer S.A.D. – you can expect to experience some or all of the following symptoms:

Winter S.A.D.

• Social withdrawal (going into “hibernation mode”).
• Oversleeping, or wanting to sleep all of the time.
• Overeating, with a craving for carbohydrates, leading to weight gain.

***This is totally me, all I want to do is live like a bear in the woods all Winter long, and the feelings start as soon as the leaves change color and the clouds start rolling in.

Summer S.A.D.

• Insomnia (difficulty sleeping)
• Restlessness, feeling agitated
• Feelings of anxiety
• Lack of appetite leading to weight loss
• Aggressive and/or violent behaviors

***These symptoms fit most of my Spooky Season loving friends to a tee. Many of them can’t sleep when it’s light outside so they’re sleep cycles get all messed up, they don’t regulate their body heat well so they’re always feeling overheated and sweaty, and as a result most of them feel like they can’t leave the house.

These seasonal symptoms will occur alongside symptoms of depression, such as:

• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities.
• Decreased energy, fatigue, feeling like you’re “slowed down.”
• Difficulty remembering, concentrating, and/or making decisions.
• Persistent feelings of anxiousness, sadness, and/or “emptiness” most of the day, almost every day, for at least two (2) weeks.
• Feelings of helplessness and/or pessimism.
• Feelings of restlessness, irritability, and/or frustration.
• Feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and/or guilt.
• Changes in sleep patterns, appetite, and/or body weight.
• Physical aches and pains, cramps, headaches, and/or digestive issues that don’t go away with treatment and have no clear physical cause.
• Thoughts of death and/or suicide.

If you’re listening to this podcast, and you find yourself feeling called out by some of these symptoms and descriptions, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that there are millions of people living in the US with S.A.D., and they don’t even realize it. Though anyone can develop S.A.D. you’re more likely to develop symptoms if you’re female, if you’re already managing a mood disorder (such as major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder), have a family member that manages a mood disorder, live further from the equator, and/or struggle maintaining an adequate level of vitamin D.

Okay, so now we all know The Big S.A.D. is a thing right, but what can we do to manage S.A.D. once we realize we’re struggling with it? Well, I am glad you asked, because now we get to talk about one of my favorite topics – self-care! There are a lot of things we can do for ourselves to help keep our mind and body healthy when going through an S.A.D. season, so feel free to mix and match self-care activities, and understand that it might take a little time to find the activities that work the best for your self-care routine. Without further ado – let’s get into some of those activities shall we?

Add vitamins and supplements to our diet… after talking to our healthcare provider of course! As we mentioned earlier, a lack of vitamin D and/or melatonin can really affect our mood, but thankfully we can find both vitamin D and melatonin supplements in our local grocery store for a relatively low cost. If we know we struggle with low levels of vitamin D in the Fall-Winter season, we should consider introducing vitamin D supplements into our diet during that season to help keep our body in balance. Same thing with melatonin – if we know our body struggles with low levels of melatonin during the Spring-Summer season, we should consider taking a melatonin supplement an hour or two (2) before we want to be asleep during the Spring-Summer season to help keep our body in balance.

Plan activities we know we will look forward to and get excited about during the months we know we struggle with S.A.D., having something to look forward to during rough months can help us keep our spirits up on really hard days. For example – let’s say we really struggle to get enough exercise in the Spring-Summer season due to being unable to regulate our body heat in the Summer and hating the gym, so we decide to sign up for a swim class at the local pool in order to keep cool while we get our workout on. As a result when we start dreading the idea of being stuck inside unable to exercise due to the heat we can remind ourselves like “oh yeah, I signed up for that swim class, I’m gonna be swimming in the pool all summer woohoo!” Thus enabling us to more easily pull ourselves out of our dread spiral.

Make sure we’re eating for wellness and making foods for ourselves that we know we’ll get excited about. It doesn’t need to be anything crazy like filet mignon, but it can be foods and recipes we grew up loving, and foods that we know make our bodies feel good and are good for us. Get that soul food, that heart food, the food that gets us excited to eat into our diets. Because when we’re struggling, no matter what we are struggling with, we need to support our bodies and our minds through that struggle with our diet. The vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, etc. that we get from the foods we eat are essential tools our bodies need to function at their optimum level, and do their best for us through whatever we may be going through.

Making sure we keep our bodies moving whether that’s keeping it cool by swimming in the pool, or taking a leisurely walk with our favorite pupper, because keeping our bodies active keeps our minds and our bodies healthy. Exercise keeps us healthy by helping us regulate the dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine levels in our brain and that can help us manage our S.A.D. symptoms!

Writing out our feelings whether that’s in the form of journaling, writing poetry, authoring short stories… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re processing our emotions in a healthy way, and giving ourselves an opportunity to reflect on our emotions. It gives us the opportunity to know ourselves better, respond better to conflict, and hold our personal boundaries (among other things). We can’t always process our feelings with others, either because the topic is too personal and we feel uncomfortable, or we’re unable to regulate our emotions while discussing the topic, and sometimes there’s just no one available – and all of that is okay. It’s also why finding other ways to process our feelings (like writing them out) is important.

We can reach out to our friends and loved ones for support when we’re having a hard day, or have been riding the S.A.D. struggle bus. It’s important to remember that our friends and family (chosen and/or biological) want to be there for us, that they love us, and they want to see us thrive. We have to trust that if they are able to, they will be there to support us, and at the bare minimum they can remind us that we are loved just as we are.

We can seek professional help either from our primary healthcare provider (PCP) or a counselor when the symptoms of our S.A.D. become too overwhelming. Whether that’s asking for a listening ear, or a prescribed medication to help us manage the symptoms we’re really struggling with, and to help keep our minds from getting a little “too dark” you know what I mean? Reaching out to the professionals in our support network is essential when we aren’t able to manage the heavier symptoms of our S.A.D. (or any other illness) on our own.

…and friends, these are just a handful of the things we can do to help ourselves manage S.A.D.. We can make art, we can dance, we can receive massage and acupuncture, we can meditate and practice self awareness… There are many self-care activities we can take part in, we just have to be willing to give them a try.

To wrap up – we may not know the exact cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder, but through our understanding of the triggers and the symptoms, we can manage our S.A.D. symptoms and live a life where we’re thriving and not just surviving.

Thanks for tuning in listeners, I’m your host Britt Brown LMT, it’s been great exploring the weird and wonderful world of self-care with you. Until next time – be well!

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cited Sources…

1. National Institute of Mental Health, “Seasonal Affective Disorder”, WEB: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder#:~:text=SAD%20is%20a%20type%20of,pattern%20versus%20summer%2Dpattern%20SAD.
   
2. The Mayo Clinic, 14 December, 2021. “Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)”. WEB: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651
   
3. Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Seasonal Affective Disorder”. WEB: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/seasonal-affective-disorder
   
4. University California Davis Health, 29 November, 2023. “Seasonal affective disorder, winter blues and self-care tips to get ahead of symptoms”. WEB: https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/seasonal-affective-disorder-winter-blues-and-self-care-tips-to-get-ahead-of-symptoms/2023/11

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