You may have a Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)!

Christmas blues are a real thing, not just a whim, and not there are studies to prove it. So, if you’re feeling extra anxious, nervous, and stressed this time of the year, that may be because you could experience an episode of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

The rush of the winter holiday season, the stress regarding money, the need for an extra income due to the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period, the family going all crazy on you and clients having all sorts of desires and fetishes, all these just add up and leads to the infamous Christmas blues or “seasonal depression”.

Due to the change and disruption in our biological clock, with less sunlight during fall and winter; because of a drop in serotonin (connected to the lack of sunlight) , the brain chemical responsible with our mood; and an unbalance in our body’s level of melatonin, the one responsible with our sleep, we all may experience an episode of Seasonal Affective Disorder, this time of the year.

Most important of all is to spot it when it lurks in, disrupting our body and messing with our state of mind and mood.

SAD, “Christmas blues” or “winter depression” is linked to behaviors such as sleeping too much and still feeling tired, cravings for carbs, weight gain and a general low energy feel.

Women and young adults are more prone to winter depression. The factors that balance the scale in favor of winter depression are: cases of depression in the family, an already existing depression, that worsens during the winter months, the decrease sunlight and the low level of vitamin D, that’s naturally produced in the skin when we are exposed to sunlight.