Given how common (and insidious) SAD can be, it\u2019s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the warning signs so you can protect your mental health. Below, experts explain common symptoms to be on the lookout for this time of year\u2014and what to do if you think you have the winter blues.<\/p>\n
What are the subtle symptoms of seasonal affective disorder?<\/p>\n
1. You have to try really, really hard to stay focused.<\/p>\n
Difficulty concentrating<\/a> is a common complaint among people experiencing SAD, Justin Puder, PhD<\/a>, a psychologist based in Boca Raton, Florida, tells SELF. \u201c[People say,] \u2018I just don\u2019t feel as mentally sharp,\u2019 or \u2018It\u2019s hard for me to stay on task,\u2019\u201d Dr. Puder says. This issue can take different forms depending on your day-to-day routine, he says. For example, it might take an extraordinary amount of focus to cross typically easy things off your household to-do list (like paying bills), or three times longer than usual to get through a run-of-the-mill work task.<\/p>\n 2. You don\u2019t want to hang out with friends or go to social events.<\/p>\n Social withdrawal is a hallmark of SAD, according to NIMH, which the agency likens to \u201chibernating.\u201d If you find yourself routinely avoiding social contact and opting to stay home alone all the time, it could be indicative of a mental health issue, Dr. Puder says. \u201cPeople start to pull back from their social relationships [due to SAD],\u201d he says. \u201c[If you find yourself routinely replying,] \u2018I\u2019m going to pass,\u2019 that could be a sign you\u2019re starting to slip into seasonal depression.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Your eating and sleeping patterns are all over the place.<\/p>\n As with any form of depression, the seasonal kind can take a toll on your daily habits, according to Dr. Albers-Bowling. SAD may cause undereating, overeating, or emotional eating, she says\u2014any big deviation from the norm is worth paying attention to. Similarly, she adds, changes in your sleep schedule\u2014such as trouble sleeping through the night<\/a> or repeatedly oversleeping<\/a>\u2014could be a sign of SAD. Keep in mind that these shifts may manifest differently between winter-pattern SAD and summer-pattern SAD. Winter-pattern SAD is more likely to cause overeating (especially of carbs<\/a>) and oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia), for example. Meanwhile, summer-pattern SAD is often linked with a poor appetite and insomnia<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4. You\u2019re avoiding sex and physical intimacy.<\/p>\n Low sex drive<\/a> can also be a sign of seasonal depression, according to Dr. Albers-Bowling. This could mean not wanting to have sex with your partner, not wanting to initiate intimacy, or avoiding going on dates, Dr. Albers-Bowling says. \u201cPeople [with SAD] isolate or retreat,\u201d she explains, and dodging intimate contact can be one aspect of that.<\/p>\n 5. You\u2019re glued to your phone.<\/p>\n This is a habit we\u2019re all guilty of, but it\u2019s also a potential symptom of SAD. While obsessively checking your like count after posting a selfie doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019re depressed, if you\u2019re always scrolling for dear life in situations that require some human contact, that may be cause for concern, Dr. Albers-Bowling says. \u201cBeing tethered to your phone\u2014that is one way people tend to escape or numb out,\u201d she says. \u201c[That way,] they don\u2019t have to interact with the world.\u201d Keep an eye on your screen time to clock major shifts in your phone usage<\/a>.<\/p>\n How to alleviate the symptoms of seasonal depression\u2014plus when you should see a doctor<\/p>\n Fortunately, there are many ways to manage the symptoms of SAD\u2014or prevent them. As SELF previously reported<\/a>, keeping social events on your calendar (and sticking to the plan, even when it\u2019s really cold out), incorporating more outdoor movement<\/a> into your schedule, and even trying out a new hobby<\/a> every now and then (like journaling<\/a> or knitting<\/a>) are all expert-approved mitigation strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Given how common (and insidious) SAD can be, it\u2019s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the warning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[2754,97,259,260,115254],"class_list":["post-243072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-depression","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-seasonal-affective-disorder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}