Are the Winter Blues Bunk? Study Suggests Seasonal Affective Disorder Isn’t Real
“We analyzed the data from many angles and found that the prevalence of depression is very stable across the different latitudes, seasons of the year and sunlight exposures.” (Photo: Stocksy)
Good news for those who’ve found their happiness buried under a pile of snow: A new study has determined that the winter blues, summertime sadness and all other weather-inspired bouts of depression that generally fall under the umbrella of “seasonal affective disorder” (shortened, appropriately, to “SAD”) might not really exist.
The research, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, questions the idea that variation in seasons and weather conditions are responsible for inducing depression in different individuals.
“In conversations with colleagues, the belief in the association of seasonal changes with depression is more-or-less taken as a given, and the same belief is widespread in our culture,” Steven LoBello, a professor of psychology at Auburn University at Montgomery and senior author on the new study, said in a statement. “We analyzed the data from many angles and found that the prevalence of depression is very stable across the different latitudes, seasons of the year and sunlight exposures.”
Related: The Number One Cause Of Depression — Everywhere
SAD was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1987. Those that fell under that designation met the criteria for clinical depression and typically experienced heightened symptoms during the fall and winter and decreased symptoms in the spring and summer.
However, more recent studies have called into question previous work into the subject, inspiring the researchers of this study to dig further into the supposed seasonal phenomenon.
Related: The 10 Different Kinds of Depression Prove the Condition Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
LoBello and lead study author Megan Traffanstedt embarked on research to determine if a link exists between different seasons and states of depression using data from a large-scale phone survey of adults in the United States. Examining data from 34,294 individuals aged 18 to 99, the researchers asked participants how many days out of the previous two weeks they had experienced any depressive symptoms using the PHQ-8, a personal questionnaire designed to measure depression symptoms. Then, researchers looked into “season-related measures” such as day of the year, latitude and sunlight exposure based on each participant’s geographic location.
Their results found no correlation between symptoms of depression and the season-related measures.
“Results do not support the validity of a seasonal modifier in major depression,” the researchers concluded. “The idea of seasonal depression may be strongly rooted in folk psychology, but it is not supported by objective data.”
By Ethan Harfenist, for Vocativ
Read This Next: Every Adult Should Be Screened for Depression
