Tiredness, difficulty getting out of bed, a bit of weight gain and bouts of the winter blues as the days shorten affect many of us. However some people feel an exaggerated form of these symptoms. Their depression and lack of energy become debilitating; work and relationships suffer. This is known as Seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

What exactly is SAD?
SAD is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience serious mood change with the change in seasons, year after year. In severe forms sufferers may notice sleep disturbance, either over-sleeping or finding sleeping difficult. Often this type of depression is characterised by lethargy and fatigue. Concentration dwindles and every task seems insurmountable. Some people become anxious about going out. Over-eating is commonly reported with a preference for quick-fix, carboyhdrate-rich foods. As a result weight gain is common and this simply reinforces negative feelings and poor self-image. This state of lowered vitality brings a greater vulnerability to viral and bacterial infections in its wake.

Tips to help you get through the winter

• Make winter sunshine a priority. Wrap up warmly and take every advantage of being outside if it’s dry and sunny. Leave errands until after work.
• Sleep more but not too much.
• If you find yourself grazing, add more fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet.
• Wear bright colours – even if you just choose a sunny coloured accessory it will lift your mood.
• Sit near a window when you’re working.
• Buy a light box but do your research carefully.
• Learn a meditation or relaxation technique that involves imagining a sunny place. Don’t underestimate the power of the imagination on your emotional and physical state.
• Keep a diary and record how the weather is affecting your mood and what you do. There may be patterns you’ll spot. Writing is a powerful therapeutic tool which can bring clarity and awareness.

What makes homeopathy different in its approach?
Conventional treatment of depression generally consists of drug therapy. Prescription drugs are given with the aim of minimising symptoms. Counselling or psychotherapy may be recommended to help uncover and address emotional issues. While medication can offer a welcome respite, when emotions are suppressed over time, they often resurface when drugs are reduced or stopped. This keeps the sufferer dependent on daily doses of chemical drugs which can have significant, sometimes serious, and even permanent side effects.

The homeopathic approach to depression is a totally different approach from the conventional one. A homeopath wants to know all the details – everything that has challenged your health and happiness and contributed to your present state of ill health. We want to know what life events have occurred to produce a recurrent emotional pattern? How specifically have you responded to events in the past, emotionally, mentally and physically? What particular thoughts and feelings come up during a depressive episode? How are they the same or different from your usual state? Is there any trauma in your past? What were you like as a child? The smallest detail is of interest and can often make the difference in prescribing one medicine over another.

For some people SAD is a response to a period of physical or emotional stress. It may coincide with other hormone related conditions such as the menopause or an emotional shock such as a betrayal or a bereavement. For other people, they know they were ‘just born that way’ and never fire on all cylinders in the winter. They may experience a worsening of their chronic symptoms every year and only seek help when they have to take time off work. A homeopath will want to look back and chart the development of the depression – even one that appears to be entirely related to the season. In this way an individualised prescription can be made with the aim of figuring out which remedy will benefit a person the most and break the cycle of winter blues.