Description

This disorder has the same characteristics as the major depressive disorder. The difference is that in this disorder, the mood is dependent on the weather. People with this disorder experience a depressed mood in de autumn and the winter. The exact cause is not known, but it is known that light therapy is an effective treatment. This treatment exposes the patient to an enormous amount of light to simulate sunlight.

Normal

In the autumn and winter a lot of people feel a little depressed. Especially in the christmas-period a lot of people are depressed. But it normally does not last almost the whole autumn and winter..

Abnormal

People who have this disorder are depressed almost every day for several weeks. The difference with major depressive disorder is that in seasonal affective disorder, this depressed period only emerges in autumn or winter.