Are Cold Weather Blues Real or a Myth?

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is thought to occur in late autumn and winter season and is caused by the seasonal variations of light or the lack of it.

Feeling gloomy and depressed in cold weather may be a myth, revealed a new study.

For the study, LoBello and colleagues conducted a telephonic interview with 34,000-plus participants. They were questioned about their depressive symptoms and the responses were matched with the location, month, latitude and amount of sun exposure when interviewed.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of clinical depression that is triggered only at particular time of the year; it occurs and remits with changes in seasons.

‘The Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) could be just a myth as there is no proof of the existence of any such condition.’

Researchers found no strong evidence of depression related to season and if the seasonal pattern could lead to depression, those cases should be very rare. People who responded to the survey in the winter months, when sunlight exposure was low, had no greater levels of depressive symptoms than those who responded to the survey at other time.

Steven LoBello, lead researcher of the study, said. “I certainly did not argue that this means SAD does not exist. However, only a minority of depression cases are actually SAD.”

Source-Medindia

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