You've likely heard of seasonal depression before, and are likely aware of its phenomenon.

2022 infographic on seasonal affective disorder, per the National Institute of Mental Health.
When daylight saving time ends, and it gets darker earlier in the evening & later into the morning: many can experience depressive symptoms brought on by the turn of the weather from warm, bright, and sunny to cold, dark, and dreary.
That aspect of seasonal depression has become more commonly recognized since the start of the 21st century, which has led to a great amount of research conducted to increase awareness about the condition. Because of this, people have now gained a pretty good grasp on seasonal depression since research on it began in 1979 and was first documented in the early-1980s.
However -- as is typical with mental health conditions -- seasonal depression carries many complexities along with it; there's far more to it than just what the common knowledge is. I'll attempt to detail said complexities in this piece.
"Seasonal depression" is officially & medically known as Seasonal affective disorder, or 'SAD'.
Yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking: 'SAD' is a hilariously apt abbreviation for a depressive disorder.
It's characterized as a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons (as I stated before) and its general symptoms include, per the Mayo Clinic: [1]
Feeling listless, sad or down most of the day, nearly every day
Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
Having low energy and feeling sluggish
Having problems with sleeping too much
Experiencing carbohydrate cravings, overeating and weight gain
Having difficulty concentrating
Feeling hopeless, worthless or guilty
Having thoughts of not wanting to live
Seasonal affective disorder is much more commonly diagnosed in women than in men, and in most cases, SAD begins occurring in young adulthood. In addition, SAD is more likely to occur in those that live more northern or southern from the equator, as this results in colder temperatures and harsher conditions in the fall and winter months. [2]

Diagram depicting the areas in the USA more prone to SAD due to the '37th parallel' -- a circle of latitude running north of the equator that changes the sun's angle during the fall and winter months.
As I write this on October 28th, already more than a month into autumn, you may already be experiencing some of these symptoms since the weather's turned. As I'll detail further later in this piece, there are clear scientific reasons why these symptoms arrive in accordance with the weather changes & decrease in sunlight. But we'll circle back to that. I want to address something important first:
Did you know that there are two (2) differing types of SAD?
The type that most people experience is called fall & winter SAD, winter-pattern SAD, or winter-onset SAD. (I'll roll with the latter for this article.) The Mayo Clinic lists the following as winter-onset SAD's symptoms:
Oversleeping
Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
Weight gain
Tiredness or low energy
As I'm not above giving personal anecdotes about my mental health journey, I will say that winter-onset SAD is something I've had plenty of experience battling. As I've battled major depression since my childhood, these symptoms are more of the overarching variety to me. But -- due to the decrease in sunlight, which is our greatest source of energy as living beings -- these symptoms always hit me harder once the transition from summer to autumn hits.
I also have struggled with Vitamin D deficiency throughout my young adult years, which only exacerbated this problem. Vitamin D is the vitamin that fortifies strength in our bones, immune system, brain, muscles, cardiovascular system, energy, mood, and insulin levels.

These symptoms listed above have a way of feeding into another. For me, personally, the combination of darker days outside, with my recurring lack of Vitamin D, consistently drive my energy down to critically low levels.
Thus, I would overcompensate by eating foods with a unhealthy amount of carbs -- more specifically, snacks and meals stocked in sugar. Carbohydrates are the nutrient most transferable to energy production, so... makes sense.
But, note that I said I usually find myself eating an "unhealthy amount" of them. That huge influx of sugar in such a short amount of time has periodically led to a huge influx of weight at times in my life. I can count the amount of times I've had to lose 15-20 pounds at the end of winter on two hands. (That's not good.)
I mentioned earlier the scientific explanations of why winter-onset SAD is so widespread. Less sunlight means less serotonin production. Serotonin is the hormone that regulates mood, sleep, hunger, and learning -- hence why high school & college students can find such struggle in navigating school during the autumn & winter months.
Vitamin D deficiency puts us at heightened risk for serotonin deficiency -- and our bodies naturally have a decreased amount of Vitamin D in the fall and winter. I trust you can put 2 & 2 together at this juncture.
All that research and information is well-documented at this point in time. Winter-onset SAD is pretty simple to explain when you consider all the possible environmental factors.
The other version of SAD is... not as easily explainable.
Summer & spring SAD, summer-pattern SAD, or summer-onset SAD is the other, much-less-frequently-diagnosed type of seasonal affective disorder that occurs at the transition from winter to the warmer weather that the spring & summer seasons bring. The Mayo Clinic lists these as its symptoms:
Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
Poor appetite
Weight loss
Agitation or anxiety
Increased irritability
Researchers have found reasons and causes for these symptoms of summer-onset SAD far more difficult to explain than its winter-onset counterpart -- though these same researchers do not deny summer-onset SAD's realism, specifically the researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health, who say there's still a "good amount of research yet to be done on the summer version of SAD." [3]

Diagram differentiating the symptoms of winter-onset SAD & summer-onset SAD, courtesy of counselingrx.com.
Clinical psychologist Adam Borland of the Cleveland Clinic states that summer-onset SAD can occur "due to a combination of physiological and environmental issues."
The Cleveland Clinic goes on to state that summer-onset SAD can be brought on by:
Our bodies responding negatively to the heat and humidity (leading to feelings of fatigue/exhaustion)
Swift change of routine in the summer months (ex. summer vacations)
Social pressures to go outside, "have fun" (social anxiety, body image anxiety)
Summer depression, or the "summer blues", can be just as disruptive to one's life as winter-onset SAD, should one suffer from the summer version. As it pertains to SAD as a whole, though: what can be done to prevent & treat it?
The NIMH lists:
psychotherapy, more specifically cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT),
antidepressant medication, more specifically Bupropion (Wellbutrin),
and Vitamin D supplements,
as possible treatments and preventative measures for SAD. [4]
But what can also aid in dealing with & treating SAD is understanding the disorder better. This comes from continuing to educate ourselves on its causes. We've already rolled through the environmental causes of the disorder -- but is that the extent of the causes?
No.
The Healing Journey project on The Recess Bell was started in part to raise awareness on how trauma can affect our minds & bodies, and how to heal from the destructive effects that trauma can bring onto our lives.
The most prevalent disorder that trauma brings about is depression. Seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression.
Therefore, it's reasonable to expect that trauma & maltreatment suffered in childhood, adolescence, teenage years, and young adulthood can result in an increased likelihood of enduring SAD throughout adulthood, with varying severity & range of SAD symptoms.
An experimental survey conducted by Elvesier's Journal of Affective Disorders concluded that there was indeed a connection between childhood maltreatment & adult SAD symptom severity. [5]
In any type of healing journey that one embarks on, I have a multiple-step process that marks it.
The first step is to realize that there's a problem.
The second step is to gain understanding on what the problem is and the reasons why it exists.
The third step is to use that newly-acquired understanding to come up with possible solutions.
The fourth step is to enact said solutions into your everyday life, to hopefully promote healing and relief.
If you've already been diagnosed with any type of seasonal depression, or if you're reading this and feel that many of the symptoms mentioned arrive at your personal doorstep at this time of year every year, you've identified that there's a problem. This article serves to offer understanding around that problem. And thankfully, due to the 5-decades-and-counting's worth of research, experimentation, documentation on SAD: there are a bevy of possible solutions available to you.
If you've read through this article all the way to this point, you've not only gained understanding on said problem, but you've also read through the steps that you can take to attempt to remedy it.
And now, you have the opportunity to implement said solutions how you see fit.
Good luck to you over the course of the next 4-5 months to come. Try to find light in the darkness & warmth in the cold.
That's a metaphor for what The Healing Journey is all about.

References:
[1] “Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 21 Dec. 2021, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651.
[2, 4] “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder. Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.
[3] “Yes, You Can Get Sad in Summer.” Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, 12 July 2023, health.clevelandclinic.org/summer-depression.
[5] Baglioni, C., et al. “Childhood Maltreatment Reports in Adult Seasonal Affective Disorder: Associations with Sleep Disturbances, Maladaptive Cognitions, and Brooding.” Journal of Affective Disorders, Elsevier, 1 June 2021, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032721002718?via%3Dihub.
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