The Pursuit of Healthiness

The Pursuit of Healthiness
Your Guide to Getting Healthy

Thursday, September 10, 2015

When Your Mood Changes with the Season

Lately, I've been feeling pretty lonely and depressed, which is kind of strange when you consider that I'm back to school. I'm constantly around people, a heck of a lot more than I was during the summer. But over the summer, I felt happy, laying in the sunlight, on my own, feeling the water of the pool all around me. Now that I'm crammed in a dorm room all the time, my mood has been falling steadily.

I've felt this for a long time but never really thought it was a big deal. As a sufferer of bipolar disorder, I just figured this was a part of it. But I decided to do a little research. Apparently, those with bipolar disorder are actually more prone to getting Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Like most forms of depression, SAD comes with a loss of energy, a loss of interest in things you like, having difficulty concentrating, feeling irritable, and weight gain. What I've been feeling lately is especially the feeling of worthlessness and hypersensitivity to rejection.

I had decided recently to stop seeing a therapist because I really disliked the one I was going to. He once told me that I was probably just sad because I was a teenage girl and I needed a boyfriend. He recently lost his license and I can completely see why. But I think I may try to find a new one. I could use someone to talk to who may help me get through this time again. But SAD isn't just for fall and winter. SAD can also appear in the spring and summer months, although the effects are slightly different. It's often accompanied with weight loss and loss of appetite as opposed to SAD during the winter months, where the craving for carbs becomes common and there's usually a weight gain.

In either case, going through SAD alone is never a good idea.  You may be thinking, "Well it's just a couple months of misery," like I usually do, but it can get scary going it alone, especially considering SAD is often accompanied by thoughts of suicide. Don't get it alone. Getting healthier, mentally or physically, is a process and it's always better with help.