The Darkness Within: Symptoms and Challenges of SAD

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a recurring mood disorder in which the yearly arrival of the winter months prompts changes in behavior and mood. Specific symptoms of SAD during the winter include a loss of drive and energy, similar to that seen with depression. Additionally, increased appetite, cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods, and weight gain are common winter symptoms of SAD. SAD can present as a bipolar phenomenon, with the arrival of spring prompting either manic or hypomanic episodes.

Exercise as a Powerful Weapon Against SAD: An Exercise Pro's Insights

How Exercise Boosts Mood and Combats SAD

Exercise is a powerful lifestyle intervention that presents many health benefits, including the potential for a reduction in SAD. There is good data indicating regular exercisers are less likely to experience SAD than their sedentary counterparts. In particular, high-intensity physical activity practitioners reported lower levels of seasonal sensitivity. How can exercise combat SAD? There are two theories. Firstly, exercise can reset circadian rhythms by altering melatonin production, a powerful sleep-inducing hormone. Exercise also has positive effects on mental health in general, specifically reducing feelings of anxiety and depression in regular exercisers. Regarding combating SAD, exercise may have a positive effect through both mechanisms. Either way – there is clear evidence that exercise effectively reduces SAD.

What to Do?

So, we know exercise is a good treatment for SAD. How much do we need to do? Unfortunately, precise recommendations for the required amount of exercise needed to combat SAD are not available yet: too few clinical trials are available. So, the best I can do is to give you an educated guess based partly on guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine’s general exercise prescription. Here goes:

For exercise mode – 

Find a way (or several ways) you like to move. There is no one best way to exercise, but ideally, you should obtain a mix of strength training and aerobic exercise for optimum health. My personal faves are free weights and a few bodyweight exercises (dips and pullups) for strength training, a rowing machine, an elliptical trainer, and a recumbent stationary bike for aerobic exercise. That is just me – find what works for you! I prefer to train alone. Many people love exercise classes, which present a great advantage of socialization and help to improve mental health even further.

For frequency – 

Most people obtain significant general health benefits from exercising ~3-4 days per week, which is a good goal. However, any amount is infinitely better than no exercise – again, find what works for you. You can never start too low, and you can always add more later.

Duration – 

Long gym hours are not necessary and may not be possible with a busy schedule. A good, productive workout can be achieved in as little as 20 minutes. Again, any amount, even 5 minutes of exercise, is infinitely better than nothing.

Intensity – 

The research cited above indicated that higher-intensity exercise was related to lower levels of seasonal sensitivity. These ratings of intensity were based on a self-rating system. You can do the same. Simply rate your workout’s difficulty from 1 (no effort) to 10 (max effort). I suggest you try to hit an effort of 7 at least twice a week and balance the hard workouts with some lighter efforts (5 or fewer days).

These exercise guidelines should boost overall health and reduce the likelihood of SAD.   

Optimizing Your Treatment Plan: Exercise as a Complement to Other Therapies

Exercise is not the only lifestyle treatment for SAD! Other potential treatments for SAD include diet, staying outdoors, sleep, and music therapy. All these interventions have shown some promising signs of effectiveness, and there is no reason to adopt an either/or approach to feeling better. Consult your physician or a registered dietitian to help optimize sleep and diet.    

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