Here’s What to Know About Summertime Sadness (S.A.D.)
June 5, 2018 – While classic winter S.A.D. is confusing, summer SAD is even trickier. By most estimates, between 5% and 10% of the U.S. population experiences S.A.D.,,Seasonal Affective Disorder. But only a small portion of Americans, somewhere around 1% of the total population, have flare-ups in the summertime, says Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a SAD expert and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Whenever it occurs, SAD can be a difficult condition to diagnose. It’s defined as major depression that follows a seasonal pattern for at least two years, according to the National Institutes for Mental Health. But since it’s a subtype of @depression, rather than a completely distinct condition, it can be hard to tell whether symptoms such as dips in mood and energy, sleep issues, feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, changes in appetite and difficulty concentrating point to SAD or another type of depression. It can also be difficult to distinguish between true SAD and the less severe “winter blues.”
One weekend in June of 2017, our lives, the lives of our family, and most importantly, the life of our daughter Sydni, changed forever.
