Many factors can cause people to suffer from depression. Some of them include drug abuse, a hostile living environment, and stress. What people don’t know is that the changing of the seasons can cause depression too. Doctors refer to this phenomenon as seasonal depression disorder.
What Is Seasonal Depression Disorder?
Doctors more commonly refer to seasonal depression disorder as a seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This type of depression occurs as the season’s change. In fact, depression typically starts and stops about the same time every year.
Everyone gets SAD at different times, but the most common are in fall and winter. Their feelings of depression can last until the coming of spring. When people suffer from SAD, they tend to feel moody and as if they have no energy.
What Are the Symptoms of SAD?
Before people can seek a depression treatment center in North Carolina, they have to know that they suffer from SAD. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Lost interest in favorite activities
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Low energy levels
- Feeling sluggish
- Changes in weight and appetite
- Feelings of depression nearly every day
Keep in mind that SAD affects people of all ages and both genders. Also, symptoms of SAD typically start mild and get worse as the season progresses unless people get help.
Link Between SAD and Substance Use
When suffering from SAD, people experience depression nearly every day. As a result, they start to look for some kind of relief. Without professional help, they may get relief by abusing drugs even if it’s just momentary relief.
Of course, substance use can cause SAD to develop as well. It occurs because of the chemical imbalance that drugs create in the brain. Once a chemical imbalance happens, the brain becomes susceptible to mental disorders.
Treatment for SAD
Treating SAD involves a number of methods. One of the most popular is psychotherapy or talk therapy. For some people, talking with a trained professional about their seasonal funk or winter blues is enough to overcome it. Psychiatrists can teach them coping skills to make dealing with SAD easier.
Another popular type of treatment is light therapy or phototherapy. The idea behind it is that fall and winter are darker seasons with shorter days. Since people stay inside more often, light therapy focuses on outdoor activities or ultraviolet light exposure.
In some cases, doctors prescribe medication to help people deal with SAD. Unfortunately, some medications aren’t a great fit for people who suffer from substance use disorder. Only doctors can determine when medication is the right fit for people.
Get Help at Red Oak Recovery
At Red Oak Recovery, we offer young adult rehab programs. However, we take our programs a step further with dual diagnosis treatment. Using dual diagnosis programs, we can help young adults get over not only substance use problems but also underlying causes. This treatment includes helping people who suffer from seasonal depression disorder.
Red Oak Recovery knows that a rehab center is only as good as the programs that it offers. That’s why we strive to provide services that are a good fit for our clients, including:
- Eco-therapy
- Gender-specific rehab
- Individual therapy
- Group counseling
- Trauma therapy
Don’t let depression lead you down the path of substance use. Learn more about seasonal depression disorder. Reach out to Red Oak Recovery today at 866-457-7590.
