Seasonal Affective Disorder Checklist
Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is depression that comes back at the same time each year. For most people it starts in late fall or early winter, as the days get shorter, and lifts in spring. Feeling a bit flat in January is common. SAD is more than that: low mood most days, sleeping much more, craving carbohydrates, and pulling away from people, week after week.
If last winter was hard, the useful time to act is the fall, before it starts. Doctors can begin treatment in the fall for people with a known pattern, and morning light, exercise and a fixed wake-up time are easier to set up in October than in the middle of a bad week in January.
This list is for planning and for talking to a doctor. It is not a diagnosis or treatment advice. If you are thinking about suicide, in the US call or text 988, and in the UK or Ireland call Samaritans on 116 123.
- Write down how last winter went, and the month it started — Doctors look for the same pattern in at least two winters in a row.
- Start a simple weekly note of your mood, sleep and energy — One line a week is enough to show a doctor whether things are changing.
- Know the signs to watch for
- Low mood most of the day, nearly every day
- Losing interest in things you usually enjoy
- Sleeping much more and still feeling tired
- Craving carbohydrates and gaining weight
- Avoiding friends and plans
- Book a doctor's appointment if the signs last more than two weeks, or if last winter was hard — Light therapy, talking therapy such as CBT, and antidepressants are all used for SAD, and a doctor can start some of them before symptoms return.
- Get outside in daylight every morning, even for 15 minutes — Morning light counts even on a cloudy day.
- Move your desk or reading chair next to a window
- Ask your doctor before starting a light box — Especially if you have bipolar disorder, an eye condition, or take a medicine that makes you sensitive to light.
- Choose a light box made for SAD, usually rated 10,000 lux, that filters out UV — A desk lamp is far dimmer, and a tanning lamp gives off the UV you want filtered out.
- Use it as your doctor advises, often 20 to 30 minutes soon after you wake up — Sit with the light off to one side while you eat or read; do not stare into it.
- Get up at the same time every day, weekends included
- Plan your exercise for daylight hours, outdoors when you can
- Put one plan with another person in your calendar each week — SAD can make you want to cancel, so set it up before the low weeks start.
- Plan something to look forward to in January or February
- Cut back on alcohol over the winter — Alcohol is a depressant and disrupts sleep.
- Ask your doctor whether checking your vitamin D makes sense for you — Research on vitamin D for SAD has mixed results, so ask before buying supplements.
- Tell one person you trust what your bad weeks look like — They may notice the change before you do.
- Save a crisis line in your phone — 988 in the US by call or text, or Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland.