User:Mr. Ibrahem/Seasonal affective disorder

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder in which people develop depressive during a specific period of the year. This occurs recurrently, and most commonly during the winter. Symptoms may include feeling low, lacking interest in activities that were once enjoyed, trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, trouble concentrating, and having little energy.

The cause is unclear. Risk factors include family history. In the DSM-5, it is not a unique disorder, but applied as the specifier "with seasonal pattern" to major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Diagnosis is based on symptoms.

Treatment may include light therapy, counselling, antidepressants, or vitamin D. Increasing exercise is also recommended. As symptoms begin predictably during a specific time of the year, treatment may be started before symptoms are expected to begin. Symptoms often improve 1 to 2 weeks after starting treatment.

SAD is estimated to affected 5% of people in the United States. Rates vary with latitude from 1.4% in Florida to 10% in Alaska. Women are affected four times more frequently than men. Onset is often in early adulthood. The condition was formally described and named by Norman E. Rosenthal in 1984.