If there is anything you disagree with, please let me know in the comments then tell me why. I'm not writing this to impress anybody, so I won't be too offended, just make sure you teach me something!
This post is broken up into the following categories:
Pseudo-Medical Outline
My Experience
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
Seasonal Affective Dichotomy
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Pseudo-Medical Outline
www.sada.org.uk includes a list of "Key Symptoms". These symptoms help us understand the effects SAD may have on somebody in the third person.
I mentioned "Third person". Mental Conditions are very personal to the person in question and changes within a person's ego may not be seen on the outside (By a doctor or person in care)
- Depression
- Sleep Problems
- Lethargy
- Over Eating
- Loss of Concentration
- Social Problems
- Anxiety
- Loss of Libido
- Mood Changes
The site on the more detailed symptoms page goes on to mention that a person may suffer some of these symptoms.
The different symptoms are broken down and expanded upon. These are explanations on why somebody may be feeling each symptom.
Outlining a condition like this is useful for identifying that a problem may exist, but ineffective in terms of treatment for most people. it can lead to a very clinical and non-intuitive method of treatment degrading a person into a case study.
The types of people such a medicinal approach may benefit may be the same types of people that rely on an exterior source (Psychotherapy, friendship) to help them analyse how to deal with the situation.
If you have SAD and you are only seeking a way to deal with the winter in such a clinical way, you may not benefit from reading any further. If you are willing to accept this as a means to challenge yourself and your perception of the world around you, then read on! I am dropping the medical side as it can be too easy to rationalise everything on such a mundane level failing to reap the full reward!
My Experience
I've had SAD for as long as I can remember, (Though I will admit, that goes back to about 16 years old), and Winter has always been the season that I dread. Autumn is also depressing as it reminds me of death. It takes about a week for my mood to change properly with ups and downs in between. This started about 3 weeks ago, and it was a slightly distressing experience!
I also have Bipolar Disorder (Formerly known as 'Manic Depression') something I intend to write about in the near future though it may be over a series of blogs. Having Bipolar Disorder Type 2 is an extremely misunderstood condition. Whilst hypomania and depression are 2 things I suffer, there are so many other facets in personality that Bipolar can affect. Creativity; Drive; Libido; Appetite; sensory excitation.
These are attitudes that can also be affected by SAD. As a result, suffering both have lead to far exaggerated effects.
- Do not fight a natural chemical change in your brain with your brain until you identify the cause of the change
Having Bipolar (BP), I have been forced to constantly evaluate my thoughts and feelings as my perspective on the world can change fairly significantly in a short space of time. The length of time it takes (Sometimes it can take under a minute) makes such a change confusing and difficult to handle. Imagine going to climb a mountain with all your climbing gear, then being told you are going swimming instead. It's very easy to sink when not mentally prepared!
If it's Summer time, I will naturally be extroverted with unnaturally large social boundaries. I can be very inappropriate and I will treat acquaintances with more connection than a normal person would. This makes it very easy to make friends!
I have had a number of amazing adventures this year where I have had the pleasure of meeting so many people and learned so much. My last adventure was a month ago. I normally get slightly depressed when I come back home after a week long adventure, spend 2 days being very introverted, get bored, then head off on my next adventure. I am currently unemployed due to complications Bipolar has in the workplace (Timekeeping, focussing on task etc). This last time I didn't get that release from the depression phase. It started getting worse! This is where I had my main problem... I was acting extrovert, but I had actually turned into an introvert! I was still acting the same way I would except my super huge social boundary had turned tiny! I wasn't aware of this because I was still acting on my routine hyper regime. I first noticed a large change in my personality when I was with my friends. They had thought I was high and couldn't understand a word I was saying, and it made me look at myself for that moment, and I realized that I couldn't articulate myself to the level I once could. A simple topic like sarcasm or small talk were easy enough for me, but once I tried to describe things that required a part of the brain that is now dormant, I faltered, completely.
I have noticed that in different states, a part of me (Call it the brain or the mind, I couldn't say which yet) will switch off, and another part will turn on. I'm not aware of what's turning on of course as that isn't my standard routine. I just notice what has been switched off! (I don't notice what parts of me activate similar to a goldfish cannot adapt to living outside of a bowl if that is all it has known). I would be trying to use a part of the brain in conversation before realising I just wasn't equipped for the task! It is like being stuck on the other side of your ego boundary. This is the part where you get anxious... And some with a nervous disposition might have a panic attack at this point. I generally freeze until I can come out with a rational way out of the situation. During this time I forcibly put myself mentally where I feel comfortable, and start again. This only really works when the situation hasn't been turned into one of social awkwardness!
Once I learned to stay within my shell, I started to become a lot more comfortable with the changes that were going on in my mind and even started to explore the parts of me that are being unlocked. (Like this blog... If it is now Summer time, my current posts are likely to be very different to this if I lose touch with this part of me that is unlocked at this time of year.)
- SAD is more than just a list of key symptoms, it is a physiological response which changes how a person cognitively connects with the world.
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
I recently did a small amount of research into the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. First published in 1921, Myers Briggs concluded that everybody fits into 16 possible psychological types. There are 8 dichotomies split into 4 pairs. Each pair is based upon opposites of 4 parts of the mind.
| Dichotomies | |
|---|---|
| Extraversion (E) – | (I) Introversion |
| Sensing (S) – | (N) Intuition |
| Thinking (T) – | (F) Feeling |
| Judging (J) – | (P) Perception |
A person is profiled with a single letter from each category. For example, my category is usually ENFP - Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perception (I did not come to this conclusion by use of a test but by self analysis. A test concluded my results)
I strongly encourage you observe these types before continuing. This is because it is likely your personality type can change as you go through life, experiences can shape you or even SAD may kick in! Identifying your own type can help you perceive how this concept could be important in your daily life. Once you have read up on the personalities and have a decent understanding on how these work, take the test here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
You may find that you have a lot of difficulty with some of the questions. This is perfectly normal and shows that you are prone to change between types (For instance, I turn from extrovert to introvert too much to make some of the questions possible, so I switch between ENFP and INFP. I am currently INFP which I believe to be influenced heavily by SAD.
SAD lowers my ego a LOT and I will happily go through a day without wasting my time on 'pointless' social activities (Which is the opposite to my hypersocial nature during the summer). I still have social needs like I did before, but I am unable to fulfill them how I used to. As my I, N, F and P dichotomies are exaggerated, my inability to deal with this change and social distance can naturally slow me down. The lack of stimulation will then lead to depression.
Seasonal Affective Dichotomy
It is this that makes me believe that whilst the onset of SAD can be minimalised by standard treatment such as high intensity lamps. Visit here for information on sun lamps. http://www.sad.co.uk/ Nice and patronising website design!!
For those of you that don't respond, or don't wish to follow the course of light therapy, I think I might have the answer! Stop viewing SAD as a disorder. Think of it as Seasonal Affective Dichotomies! You're probably going to have no choice but to deal with the fact you're going to be a different person this Winter, so why not make the most of it instead of putting yourself in a box that you made when you were a different person!
- Find something that connects you to the world if you are feeling in social turmoil like close friends.
- If you can't seem to keep friends, talk to somebody online who you think looks interesting. Boy or girl!
- If you find that you haven't got as much energy, don't worry about it. And don't drink as much caffiene!
- If you feel detached from everything, as if you are high, then disconnect from it and come to your own conclusions a little more. (Unless you have Schizophrenia, in which case I would recommend the opposite!)
- When browsing the internet and not having motivation to find what you need, just distract yourself and read something new on that page, it may just open your mind a little.
- Stop feeling the need to be completely orderly. Just use order as a way to keep you from losing basic routines and your job! Whenever you can, have a holiday from your rigid lifestyle and appreciate a bit of creativity!
This all works for my personality type, and I believe I have encompassed these final ideas in a way that goes with all types. If you think I am talking utter crap, I challenge you to take the test and post your result with the comment.
Those are my views on the effects of SAD in a way that may help overcome a lot of the symptoms that come with the change. Let me know if this helps you in any way!
Very useful blog! I find myself challenging the aspects that define S.A.D by living outside the limitations of it as a disorder, more a mental outlook based on climate change, and lack of preparation for it!
ReplyDeleteBy assessing the aspects of seasonal depression based on temperature change, lack of light, irregular or over-sleeping and those annoying black iced footpaths in the extremely colder months, it's natural you're going to feel dampened to "jump outside". (though that may actually be a great start to keeping warm!.. or slip straight on your arse)
It's all about keeping warm both inside and out, it's why we have hair (some of us more than others!).
We evolved from the caves quite some time ago, so learn to accept the flow of season change more, adaptation is what we're built for, go to sleep earlier, and wake up earlier!. That'll bring back some of the light we are in shorter supply of in these months.
Though it may take a week or two, so for this to be implemented by the bodies sleep cycle, try preparing before Autumn finishes so that you are used to this if you are a 'night owl'. When it comes to the mind i feel we have to protect ourselves from being defeated in a similar manner to the cold outdoors, sticking to our comforts, healthy social connections, winter food supplies readily prepared for, keeping that inner warmth alight by doing "the best" we can as much as any other month, even when it feels like our worst. In other words try not to differentiate your dependancy of mood based solely on the weather, because if you do that living in England, you're going to be up and down like a pro-yo 3!