Seasonal Affective Disorder: Lighting the Way
Pamela Johnson
"Whoever wishes to pursue the science of medicine in a direct manner must first investigate the seasons of the year and what occurs in them." Hippocrates (6)
Introduction
As the shortest day of the year approaches, more and more multi-colored lights and bright, festive decorations are splashed across houses and yards everywhere. Long ago, in more earthy times, people celebrated the solstice because it was the rebirth of the sun, when days began to lengthen and light began to return. As our ancient ancestors probably realized, their celebrations helped to keep spirits up when times were dark and cold, just as our modern holiday light displays function as a way to ward off the winter blues. (1)
However, not everybody can shake the sadness that comes at this time of year, usually because they are suffering from a type of clinical depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). When a person has SAD, he or she......
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