As the weather cools and the leaves turn color, an average of 5% of the United States population begins to struggle with a mental health condition called seasonal affective disorder. It’s a type of depression that causes symptoms at certain times of the year.

Although experiencing any mental health concern is tough, it can be particularly difficult if you’re also in recovery from a substance use disorder. But can it put your recovery at risk? Let’s look closer at what seasonal affective disorder is, how it can impact you, and what steps you can take to help yourself through these challenges.

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is depression that’s triggered by the change in seasons. For the majority of people with this condition, the symptoms appear during the fall and winter months. Seasonal affective disorder isn’t just “winter blues,” which are common and cause mild symptoms. Instead, SAD causes severe issues that make daily life very difficult.

Because seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression with seasonal patterns, its signs and symptoms are similar to clinical depression and include:

  • Sadness
  • Irritability
  • Concentration problems
  • Appetite changes
  • Loss of interest in favorite activities
  • Fatigue

There’s also a rarer version of this condition that impacts those in the spring and summer. The symptoms for this variant are a bit different and include weight loss, anxiety, and insomnia.

Causes of Seasonal Affective Disorder

The cause of the condition is not fully clear, but experts believe that it has to do with the changes in light that come with changing seasons. These changes can affect your biological clock, which regulates your hormones, mood, and sleep patterns. Vitally, it impacts serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that contributes to your feelings of happiness. Sunlight plays a big role in the regulation of serotonin, so a decrease in natural light could trigger depression. That’s especially true if you have risk factors, such as a family history of mental illness.

At the same time, serotonin levels get a boost from vitamin D, which you create in large quantities by being exposed to the sun. Less exposure to natural light means less vitamin D, making the situation worse.

Another factor is an increase in melatonin levels. This is a chemical that impacts your sleep patterns as well as your mood. If you produce too much of it, you can feel sluggish. An overproduction of melatonin may be triggered by a lack of sunlight in some people, leading to a number of SAD symptoms.

Although the causes aren’t entirely clear, there are risk factors that make certain people more likely to experience SAD. Those who have other mental health conditions and who have family members with SAD are more at risk.

Seasonal Affective Disorder and Addiction

People who struggle with mental health concerns have a high risk of also developing a substance use disorder. There are a few reasons for this.

The symptoms of a condition such as seasonal affective disorder can be so distressing that a person may start to drink or use drugs to cope. They may experience some short-lived relief. However, substance misuse can affect some of the same areas of the brain as mental illness, causing further chemical imbalances and worsening symptoms.

In some instances, however, substance misuse may trigger the mental health condition. By structurally changing your brain, alcohol or drugs may lead you to struggle with mood disorders.

How Seasonal Affective Disorder Impacts Your Recovery

Symptoms of depression, including ones associated with SAD, can cause you to relapse. They put significant stress on you, which can lead you to seek relief in any way you can. If depression or another mental health condition is what first led you to use drugs or alcohol, SAD can jumpstart those cravings again.

Because seasonal affective disorder can also cause fatigue, you may not want to participate in your regular 12-step meetings or other support groups. You may put off going to therapy, too, and could give in to the urge to isolate, which is never healthy while you’re going through recovery.

SAD can eat into your motivation for achieving long-term sobriety. The feelings of hopelessness can lead you to question whether any of your efforts are worth it, and that can quickly spiral into using drugs or alcohol again.

Tips to Help Yourself Avoid a Relapse

If you’re struggling with SAD symptoms and you’re worried about relapsing, there are some things you can do to help yourself get through the winter months.

Get Natural Light

When you begin experiencing symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, your impulse may be to stay in bed and pretend the world doesn’t exist. You need to do the opposite. Go outside and get fresh air and natural light. Exposure to sunlight can help your body adjust and produce the hormones you need for mood stability.

If you work in an office with windows, make sure you leave the blinds fully open. Even if it’s gloomy, you’re still getting light exposure.

Of course, it may not always be possible to get natural light. If you go to work very early in the morning and leave when the sun is already setting, then consider light therapy. Light therapy involves the use of a fluorescent light box that mimics natural light. Sitting in front of it for 30 minutes every morning can help diminish SAD symptoms.

Stay Active

Fight the urge to hibernate, which will only make depression worse. Instead, take a walk around your neighborhood, get on your treadmill, or take some yoga classes. Not only will this give you a chance to boost your energy levels, but exercise is known as a mood lifter.

Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals that can improve your sense of well-being. It can be particularly helpful if you do aerobic exercises.

Don’t Isolate

Depression takes away your joy and makes all interactions a chore. It’s common for people to pull away when they’re battling low moods and feeling irritable. That’s one of the worst things that you can do, both for the symptoms of depression and for your addiction recovery process.

You need to share what you’re going through with people who will listen without judging and offer the appropriate level of support. Reach out to family members or friends or to your recovery support group. If you have a sponsor, let them know that you’re struggling with SAD and that you’re worried about relapsing.

It’s vital that you go to your recovery meetings. Force yourself to do so; listen to what others have to say if you don’t feel like speaking. The mere act of attending a meeting keeps you connected to your recovery.

Watch Your Diet

It may sound like a simple fix, but ensuring that you’re getting enough vitamin D during the fall and winter seasons is important. Because vitamin D plays such an important role in your overall health, including impacting your serotonin levels, adding egg yolks, tuna, and orange juice to your diet can help.

Additionally, ensure that your meals are nutritious. Some people who struggle with SAD feel the need to carb-load. Try to balance your meals so that you’re getting all of the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

Stay hydrated, as well. A dehydrated body has more trouble with serotonin production, which means that depression symptoms can spike. Dehydration can also put serious stress on the body and can increase anxiety.

Ensure You Have a Relapse Prevention Plan

One of the things that you will learn as you go through your recovery process is how to put together a relapse prevention plan. This is a step-by-step outline of what you should do if you’re close to relapsing. It should be detailed and have contact information for those who can help you through the emergency.

It can be very useful to have a physical plan, like a binder or notebook, that you can quickly turn to if you’re struggling. If you’re not sure how to create one, you can always speak with your sponsor or with someone else in recovery, and they will be able to guide you.

Be Gentle With Yourself

When you’re struggling with depression, it can be easy to lose focus on yourself. You may be overwhelmed with negative feelings that could prevent you from seeing the progress you’ve made in your recovery. You may berate yourself for not being able to get over your low mood, which only makes everything worse.

Be gentle and kind to yourself. How would you treat someone else who was experiencing the same thing? That’s the treatment that you deserve.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness techniques can be some of the most useful when dealing with triggers that come from seasonal affective disorder or any other mental health concern. When you experience a trigger and are struggling to stay sober, your mind can race in all directions. Mindfulness grounds you, keeping you in the present.

Learning to stop the rushing thoughts gives you a chance to get some control back. There are lots of mindfulness techniques that can help you do this, including deep breathing exercises and sensory techniques that assist you in drawing the focus away from what’s stressing you and placing it on the objects around you.

Body scanning exercises are helpful, too, because they force you to pay attention to every part of your body. If you notice tension or discomfort, these exercises help you relax. All of this slows your mind and gives you a chance to reach out for support.

Keep a Gratitude Journal

Another excellent way to help you get through the fall and winter months and, at the same time, to contribute to your recovery journey is to keep a journal where you write down a few things you’re grateful for every day. They don’t have to be big things.

You can be thankful for the cup of coffee you got that morning or for the chance to see a friend. Practicing gratitude can help you manage stress levels and even increase your resilience. It’s an important tool that can keep you focused on what really matters in your life.

Maintain Your Sobriety by Protecting Your Mental Health

If you have SAD and find yourself struggling to remain sober despite your attempts at managing your mood, getting help from professionals can be the best option. By choosing a mental health treatment program and working in therapy to alleviate your depression, you can maintain your sobriety and improve your quality of life.

At Plus by APN, we offer residential and outpatient programs that can help you address mental health concerns. We rely on a number of interventional psychiatric therapies, like ketamine-assisted therapy, to assist those with complex conditions. Contact our team to get started.

References

  • Haghighatdoost, Fahimeh et al. “Drinking plain water is associated with decreased risk of depression and anxiety in adults: Results from a large cross-sectional study.” World journal of psychiatry vol. 8,3 88-96. 20 Sep. 2018, doi:10.5498/wjp.v8.i3.88 Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” Www.hopkinsmedicine.org, 2024, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/seasonal-affective-disorder.
  • Mayo Clinic. “Depression and Anxiety: Exercise Eases Symptoms.” Mayo Clinic, 23 Dec. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495.
  • Munoz, Colleen & Johnson, Evan & McKenzie, Amy & Guelinckx, Isabelle & Graverholt, Gitte & Casa, Douglas & Maresh, Carl & Armstrong, Lawrence. (2015). Habitual total water intake and dimensions of mood in healthy young women. Appetite. 92. 10.1016/j.appet.2015.05.002.
  • Sansone, Randy A, and Lori A Sansone. “Sunshine, serotonin, and skin: a partial explanation for seasonal patterns in psychopathology?.” Innovations in clinical neuroscience vol. 10,7-8 (2013): 20-4.