Quote:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter, or, less frequently, in the summer,[1] spring or autumn, repeatedly, year after year. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), SAD is not a unique mood disorder, but is "a specifier of major depression".[2]

Once regarded skeptically by the experts, seasonal affective disorder is now well established. Epidemiological studies estimate that its prevalence in the adult population of the US ranges from 1.4 percent (Florida) to 9.7 percent (New Hampshire).[3]

The US National Library of Medicine notes that "some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up."[4] The condition in the summer is often referred to as reverse seasonal affective disorder, and can also include heightened anxiety.[5]

SAD was first formally described and named in 1984 by Norman E. Rosenthal and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health.[6][7]

There are many different treatments for classic (winter-based) seasonal affective disorder, including light therapy with sunlight or bright lights, antidepressant medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, ionized-air administration,[8] and carefully timed supplementation of the hormone melatonin.[9]

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leery11 said:

people have been eating mushrooms and looking at the sun BUT not at the same time( dilated pupils can cause sun damage, as they are not used to being dilated  t and do not defend themselves by closing or warning you of a too high light level )  for millions of years

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I thought that even without having dilated pupils staring at the sun is harmful?

@Cosmo: yeah, the whole interaction between the human body and the seasons is damn fascinating. 

Kickle said:

Accepting that the happiness felt from the sun is who you are is blinding yourself to who you really are tho.

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Kickle said:

And it is a form of attachment, even if you disengage after.

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I disagree.  Letting the felt warmth of the sun and the subsequent happiness that I feel arise hardly counts as attachment unless I try to cling to it or futilely grasp at the sensation in the hopes that it will continue forever.  Either way, I still maintain there is happiness snobbery afoot in this thread. 

Kickle said:

Things are not kept at bay, they arise and are explored until they fade back into nothingness.

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Exactly what I'm getting at. 

Kickle said:

Is that me? Why am I still here after it has faded? Why was I here before it arose?

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