hmm not sure but I know a lot of people who get affected by it my mum's one of them. Something to do with the darker days affecting the hypothalamus and the production of certain hormones which affect your mood.

in the family i live with - the mum gets SAD. u can go to the dr and get a sun lamp for free (no joke) and it fills your whole room with daylight - and elevates ur mood a LOT if u have it on 4 around 2 hours a day. it really does work. xx

so is it because of no sunlight that causes it? Wow no wonder my mom kept telling me to go outside in the sun

hi jordan,

so, u suffer from bpd? my daughter may be suffering from this too, or it may be bipolar; don't know yet, as she is pending a psych eval soon; just wanted to know if u could give me any info. on bpd; also, yes, there is a depression called SAD; it's weird because i get depressed around the same time every year, too. don't know too much about SAD, though, just heard it from a friend when she noticed that i get depressed around the same time every year

Hi mccargo, from what the doctor said he say that I am mostly BPD but have depressive tendancies. I told him that I don't really get depressed in spring or summer but get really badly depressed in winter and that's when a friend of mine told me about SAD. I tired to google it but get all sorts of results except for SAD depression.

I did lots of dialectical behavioral therapy for it which taught me why I react to things the way I do and what I can do to help myself cope with things when they get really bad. He uses a book by some Dr Linehan(sp) and gave me lots of homework activities to do and I find it helps me a lot

oh sorry...I can ask my dr for the name of the book if you want

Yes, I've heard of SAD. However, for some people like me, the winter is better. Others have told me that they dislike winter not only because of the lack of light, but that they also spend more time home and alone.

Diagnosing yourself is problematic. You may overlook something about yourself and steer yourself in a direction that isn't helpful to you.

Talk to a pro...they study for years to come up with accurate diagnoses.

apparently its lack of sun/daylight - the darkness affects ur mood xx

thanks for the info, jordan; and yes, i would like the name of the book; thanks again! i would like to read up on bpd, just in case that's what she has

ok, next time I see my dr (my next appointment is a month away though) I'll ask him for the name of that book and also to explain more about SAD to me.

i have the same thing, for the past few years from september-december i get really depressed. its weird. but true that it is because there is not much sun. it looks so dreery outside.

Do you know a good website where I can get more info on it I haven't had much luck in googling it

I have that too jordan, but im sorry that i cant help you with sites...maybe you could suggest it as a new discussion board to doug? it seems there are alot of us that suffer that same thing, so you wouldnt be alone there!

Hi Jordan ... Seasonal Affective Disorder. A friend of mine has it. He tries to get as much natural light as he can during the winter months and also sits in front of a light box for a half hour in the morning as he has his morning cup of java. He said it helps.

Here you go Jordan, hopefully this link will give you a bit more info on SAD that you are after :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder