In our previous post, we discussed the mental health benefits of summer. While there are many benefits of summer for the majority of people, some people experience more mental health difficulties during summer. Most people have heard of SAD, seasonal affective disorder, and the assumption is that it always affects people during the winter. However, some people have SAD in the summer.
Seasonal affective disorder is more formally known as major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. This means that the symptoms of depression come at predictable times seasonally. For the majority of people with SAD, symptoms start in the fall, get more severe during winter, and then resolve by the beginning of spring. However, about 10% of those with SAD experience symptoms starting in late spring which get more severe during summer and then resolve by early fall.
Major Depression or SAD?
The existence of a predictable pattern is what makes it distinctly different from major depressive disorder (MDD). MDD often does not have a specific pattern of onset of symptoms. Not only must the symptoms be seasonal but this pattern needs to exist for a minimum of 2 years in order for someone to be diagnosed with SAD as opposed to MDD or another mood disorder.
SAD is well researched, but the majority of research is for the winter pattern. There is little research about summer pattern SAD, which means we don’t know nearly as much about it. What we do know, is that it shares many of the same symptoms of winter pattern SAD, with a few exceptions. Instead of eating more than usual (especially carbohydrates) as is common in winter pattern SAD, summer pattern usually comes with decreased appetite. This means that people often lose weight as opposed to gaining weight. Summer pattern SAD also comes with more irritability and insomnia, as opposed to hypersomnia (oversleeping) common in winter depression.
There are also some studies that suggest potential triggers for summer pattern SAD. One potential trigger is pollen. Summer depression seems to be more common in those who have seasonal allergies triggered by pollen, which is more common in the spring and summer. Another trigger could be the heat and especially high humidity. Summer pattern SAD seems to be more common in countries that experience high humidity, which suggests this link. There also could be a link between more sunlight and longer days. It’s possible that in those who experience summer SAD that they’re more sensitive to circadian rhythm changes due to the sun. This could be what causes the insomnia many people with summer pattern SAD experience.
Treatment Options
Unlike with winter SAD, we don’t really have specialized treatments for summer pattern SAD. We do know that SSRIs and SNRIs are effective treatments for summer SAD, especially when started 4-6 weeks before the usual onset of symptoms and then discontinued at the end of summer. There is a form of CBT that has been developed specifically for those with seasonal pattern depression called CBT-SAD and that has been effective for treating summer depression, as well. Other suggestions have been to stay out of the heat and sun as much as possible (no more than 30 minutes to an hour), being in air conditioned spaces if possible, and to keep one’s bedroom dark. Going to bed right after sunset and sleeping in a dark room can help offset some of the disturbances the longer days can cause to sleep patterns.
Another suggestion is to try and maintain a normal routine as much as possible. This helps with avoiding the isolation that can come from depression symptoms. Exercise and maintaining a nutritious diet can also help with relieving the severity of symptoms.
While we may not know as much about summer pattern depression as we do about winter, we do know that it exists. If you’re one of those people who experience seasonal depression in the summer, you’re not alone. And there are effective treatment options out there. Hopefully over time, more research will be done on this form of depression and we’ll know even more about it and how best to treat it.
Resources:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/summer-depression
https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/depression/summer-seasonal-affective-disorder?legacy=psycom
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/people-get-seasonal-depression-summer-too-180955673
