什么是季节性情感障碍？

尽管它的名字,悲伤不是一个明显的障碍,一个ccording to the DSM-5 (which classifies psychiatric disorders). Rather, it’s a specific form of严重抑郁症这是根据季节的变化来进行。

“就症状而言，季节性情感障碍和抑郁症是一个，也是如此，”Heather Bernstein，psyd，临床心理学家在儿童思想学院。“季节性情感障碍基本上是严重抑郁症that occurs during specific months of the year.”

大多数人受到秋季和冬季萧条的悲伤经验剧烈的剧集，因为世界许多地方越来越短。当季节再次发生变化时，抑郁症在次年之前消失了。然而，在春天和夏天，较少人的抑郁症。妇女更有可能受到男性的影响，并且症状通常会在老年人或年轻的成年人中展现出来，尽管年轻的孩子也可以体验伤心。

Experts aren’t certain what causes SAD, but one theory is that decreased sunlight in the winter months may affect the levels of melatonin and serotonin in our brains, which can in turn affect our mood and energy level.

悲伤的症状匹配其他种类的抑郁症那including:

• 感到异常悲伤或烦躁，即使没有明显的理由
• 对曾经愉快的事情造成兴趣
• 低能量水平
• 体重或饮食习惯的变化
• 睡得太多或太少
• 非常自我关键
• Engaging in自我伤害行为，就像切割一样
• Feeling hopeless, worthless or numb
• 对或尝试的想法自杀

与其他种类的抑郁症一样diagnosis只有在至少两周的几个症状中存在一些这些症状。此外，抑郁症的模式必须发生在季节至少两年才能被认为是悲伤的。

排除其他压力来源也很重要。“这个特别的标准之一diagnosisis that it’s not associated with a seasonal pattern where there’s always a压力源，“伯尔尼斯坦博士说。例如，参加压力冬季运动的孩子，当它开始时总是沮丧，不会被悲伤被诊断出来，因为他们的情绪变化不是由季节本身的变化引起的。

在许多情况下，推荐的季节性情感障碍治疗是认知行为治疗（CBT）。

因为当个人沮丧时，能量水平和动力减少，因为这个diagnosis经常专注于所谓的东西behavioral activation.“There’s going to be a lot of behavioral intervention to engage in the opposite action of what your body is pulling you to do,” says Dr. Bernstein. “Treatment can focus on questions like: How are we setting a schedule? How are we doing things even though we don’t necessarily want to be doing things?” This can include support developing and sticking to routines for sleep schedules, eating habits, screen time and social connection.

Especially in regions that get much colder and darker in the winter,behavioral activationcan also target staying active and getting outside in the daylight, even when doing so isn’t appealing. “The more we can pull our access to sunlight into balance, the more beneficial that’s going to be,” Dr. Bernstein says. “Regular physical activity and a balanced diet have also been found to be beneficial,” she adds.

在某些情况下，悲伤也被使用抗抑郁药药物，包括SSRIS。光线疗法涉及看着模仿阳光的专用灯，也是一些悲伤的人发现有助于减少症状。

所有孩子们有时会变得喜怒无常，特别是如果他们正在处理与朋友斗争那样挑战的东西，或者在学校的粗暴补丁。很难判断你孩子的心情和烦躁是令人担忧的。

Dr. Bernstein recommends thinking in terms of changes from your child’s normal behavior, whatever “normal” means for them. Maybe your child used to love making silly TikTok videos, but now they say that it’s not fun anymore. Or maybe they’ve been frustrated with school for a while, but only now are they refusing to do homework. If your child seems to be losing motivation or having a harder time enjoying things, those might be signs of depression, whether or not it technically qualifies as seasonal affective disorder.

Looking for patterns of change is key, says Dr. Bernstein. “We’re not talking about a kid who’s active all week and then has a hard time getting out of bed on Friday,” she says. “We’re talking about at least two weeks of not responding to friends, of not coming to the dinner table, of not doing schoolwork. When you see a persistent pattern is the time to reach out for help.”

It’s also important to remember that you can alwaysconsult a professional，即使你不确定存在问题。“聆听那个父母的Twine说，”这不觉得对“，”伯恩斯坦博士说。“到达儿科医生，治疗师或全科医生。在你开始想知道的情况下，最好询问某些事情是否正常，而不是等到这是一个问题。“

诊断与否，很多人在冬天更加艰难地保持开朗。在寒冷的天气，较少的光线和节假日压力之间，保持全家的精神健康可能需要一点额外的努力。

“我们必须更加意识，我们如何照顾自己？”伯尔尼斯坦博士。“我们如何照顾我们的孩子？我们如何保持健康的习惯，即使它变得越来越难？“

为此，她建议通过现在在适当的策略中提出赛季的挑战，无论您是否处理季节性情感障碍。

• 坚持惯例。你已经听过了一千次，但它仍然存在：常规帮助孩子和成年人。睡眠，膳食，工作和家庭活动的一致时间表可以提供稳定性，并使每个人都有灵魂。
• 优先考虑健康习惯。Ask kids for their own ideas for healthy activities that they’d be excited to do on a regular basis. Maybe that’s an after-school trip to the park (even in the cold!) or a weekly look through cooking blogs for fun new recipes.
• Set realistic expectations.“It’s really challenging when we come up with solutions that are not within our grasp,” says Dr. Bernstein. For instance, you might think that exercising every day is the only way for your family to stay healthy, but work and school schedules get in the way. Try getting together as a family and looking for doable alternatives: What about a game of basketball in the driveway twice a week, or taking turns choosing music for a weekend family dance party?

Whatever you choose to do, a team effort can make it easier to stay on track. “It’s not going to be just the individual who’s dealing with depression or a pattern of challenges,” Dr. Bernstein says. If your child is having a hard time, think about what would be helpful for them and use that to create some practices that the whole family can follow together.