Sickness Behavior and Seasonal Affective Disorder: An Immunological Perspective of Depression

Seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a recurrent depressive disorder in which episodes occur at a particular time of year. The most frequent variant is winter SAD in which patients become depressed during the autumn or early winter, with remission or conversion to hypomania the following spring. Recognition of winter SAD is important because the diagnosis predicts a good response to the novel t...

Seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder.

Patients with seasonal affective disorder have episodes of major depression that tend to recur during specific times of the year, usually in winter. Like major depression, seasonal affective disorder probably is underdiagnosed in primary care settings. Although several screening instruments are available, such screening is unlikely to lead to improved outcomes without personalized and detailed ...

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)?

Seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder is a combination of biologic and mood disturbances with a seasonal pattern, typically occurring in the autumn and winter with remission in the spring or summer. In a given year, about 5 percent of the U.S. population experiences seasonal affective disorder, with symptoms present for about 40 percent of the year. Although the condition is seasonally limited, patients ...