Seasonal Depression (SAD): Why Autumn Takes a Toll on Your Mood and What to Do About It

Every October, you feel as if someone is slowly turning down the volume of life. It's harder to get up. You want to eat and sleep more. Social obligations seem unbearable. You tell yourself, "It's just autumn." But if this repeats every year, it might be something more.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is not just autumn blues or a reason to "pull yourself together." It's a real depressive disorder with an understandable neurobiological mechanism and effective treatment.

1. Symptoms of Seasonal Depression

Seasonal depression follows a pattern: it begins in autumn or early winter and resolves in spring. Symptoms include:

• Persistent low mood
• Hypersomnia — you sleep a lot but don't feel rested
• Increased appetite, especially cravings for carbohydrates
• Weight gain
• Social isolation, reluctance to interact
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feelings of hopelessness: "It will always be this way"
• Decreased sex drive

The difference from the "summer" variant (which is rarer): its symptoms include insomnia, loss of appetite, and agitation.

2. Why it Occurs: The Mechanism

Three key factors:

• Disruption of circadian rhythms. Shorter daylight hours "shift" the body's internal clock. The brain gets confused about the time of day, which disrupts sleep and mood.
• Excess melatonin. In darkness, the brain produces melatonin (the sleep hormone). In winter, there are more dark hours → melatonin is produced for longer → constant drowsiness and lethargy.
• Serotonin deficiency. Light stimulates serotonin production. Less light → less serotonin → lower mood.

3. Light Therapy: What It Is and How It Works

Light therapy is a first-line treatment for SAD. You sit in front of a special 10,000-lux lamp for 20–30 minutes each morning.

How it works: bright light, via the optic nerve, suppresses excessive melatonin production and "resets" circadian rhythms. The effect develops within 1–2 weeks.

Lightboxes are sold online, costing from 3–5 thousand rubles. Important: do not look directly into the lamp, use it in the morning, not in the evening.

4. Other Treatment Methods

• Psychotherapy (CBT) — effective, especially in combination with light therapy.
• Antidepressants — usually SSRIs or bupropion, prescribed by a psychiatrist.
• Physical activity — preferably outdoors during the day (an additional source of light).
• Sleep-wake schedule — a stable routine is critical.
• Vitamin D — deficiency is common in our latitudes in winter and can exacerbate symptoms.

5. Prevention: Start Before Autumn

If you know that you're affected every autumn, start prevention in August-September:

• Light therapy from early September
• Stable sleep schedule year-round
• Regular physical activity
• Preventive consultation with a psychiatrist — some start antidepressants in autumn as a preventive measure

Talk to our AI psychologist psybot.app about your condition. Read also: What is depression and how to recognize it.