Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Seasonal Affective Disorder Text-only mirror site (e.g. for Lynx browsers):  http://www.nyx.net/~lpuls/sadhome.html Updated: March 1999 Contact: Lou Puls lpuls@nyx.net This site deals exclusively with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and seasonal light. It covers book listings, articles, and information on membership organizations and light-box and other seasonal light device manufacturers. From here are links to most of the seasonal sites. What it SAD and what causes it? What are some electronic resources on the internet related to depression? Where should a person go for help? Where can I find help in the United Kingdom?  1. What is SAD and what causes it? The group of symptoms which doctors and therapists use to diagnose depression ("depressive symptomns"), which includes the important proviso that the symptoms have manifested for more than a few weeks and that they are interfering with normal life, are the result of an alteration in brain chemistry. This alteration is similar to temporary, normal variations in brain chemistry which can be triggered by illness, stress, frustration, or grief, but it differs in that it is self-sustaining and does not resolve itself upon removal of such triggering events (if any such trigger can be found at all, which is not always the case.) SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is characterised by the sufferer living a "normal," healthy life during the summer months, but crashing into a depressive episode during the autumnal and winter season. Frequently, the depressive phases sets in around September or October, and will recede in May or June. A recurrent pattern of depression during winter and good health during summer is very suggestive of SAD. 2. What are some electronic resources on the internet related to depression? Also see Seasonal Light and Mental Health Sources. The following list is a shortened version of one compiled and maintained by Sylvia Caras. It is posted periodically to ThisIsCrazy-L (see below for subscription information). If you would like to suggest additions for this list, contact:sylviac@netcom.com To suggest additions to this list for the alt.support.depression.seasonal FAQ, send them to:lpuls@nyx.net

Newsgroups that discuss depression: alt.support.depression soc.support.depression alt.support.depression.manic soc.support.depression.manic alt.support.depression.seasonal soc.support.depression.seasonal alt.support.phobias sci.psychology sci.med sci.med.psychobiology   Internet Health Resources is an extensive listing of medical resources available over the internet: ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/hmatrix Get file medlst03.txt or medlst03.zip   An FTP site at Temple University containing articles related to depression: ftp 129.32.32.98/pub/psych   ThisIsCrazy is an electronic action and information letter for people who experience moods swings, fright, voices, and visions (People Who). To subscribe, send a message to: majordomo@netcom.com with this command in the body of the message: subscribe ThisIsCrazy-L   Pendulum is a mailing list for people diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder (manic depression) and related disorders and their supporters, and some professionals. To subscribe to pendulum, send a message to: majordomo@ncar.ucar.edu containing the line: subscribe pendulum   Walkers-in-Darkness is a list for people diagnosed with various depressive disorders (unipolar, atypical, and bipolar depression, S.A.D., related disorders). The list also includes sufferers of panic attacks and Borderline Personality Disorder. Please, no researchers trying to study us, etc. (Postings are copyrighted by individual posters.) To subscribe to walkers or walkers-digest, send a message to: majordomo@world.std.com containing the line "subscribe walkers" or, for the digest, "subscribe walkers-digest". There is an anonymous FTP site at: ftp://ftp.std.com in ~/pub/walkers, that includes a technical FAQ. According to Liz Day and Steven Lindblom, the anonymous remailer at anon.penet.fi, as currently referenced by the asdfaq.5 at ftp.std.com, is now closed down.   To get information on an anonymous remailer which is intended only for the use of support groups, including all the depression ones, contact: help@anon.twwells.com Source: Steven Lindblom   To subscribe to the Mailbase list psychiatry send the command: SUBSCRIBE PSYCHIATRY to: mailbase@uk.ac.mailbase   The Winter Blues Resource Service can be contacted by toll-free phone: 1-800-FIX BLUE (1-800-349-2583).

Sources alt.support.depression FAQ. Copyright© 1994 Cynthia Frazier. Lou Puls' Seasonal Light/SAD text site. Pamphlet: Depression: What You Need To Know, National Institute of Mental Health, by Marilyn Sargent. Office of Scientific Information National Institute of Mental Health, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The latest version is the DSM-IV (1995). For reference, the DSM-III was published in 1980. The first edition of this manual was published in 1952, and the second edition in 1968. It is used by the vast majority of psychologists and mental health professionals in the United States of America as a diagnostic tool. Psychiatrists and professionals outside of the U.S. will often use a diagnostic system called ICD-9, which differs in many respects from the DSM. Contributors Becky Elmont,NY Brian Gerred Cynthia Frazier Lansing, NY Dawn Sharon Friedman Dana Quinn John M. Grohol Nova S.E. University Joy Ikelman Boulder, CO Keith Rich Mary-Anne Wolf Rachel Findley Robert Orenstein Silja Muller Stephan Klaus Heilmayr Oakland, CA Sue W. Sylvia Caras, Owner, ThisIsCrazy-L Todd Daniel Woodward Mountain View, CA Wes Melander Editor: Lou Puls lpuls@nyx.net.  All corrections, suggestions and additions gratefully received! Most of this FAQ has been copied directly from the alt.support.depression FAQ, edited by Cynthia Frazier. Portions (c) 1994 Cynthia Frazier. Special thanks to Ivan Goldberg, MD, NY Psychopharmacologic Inst., who has provided many of the questions and answers as well as made corrections throughout the FAQ. 4. Where should a person go for help? If you think you might need help, see your internist or general practitioner and explain your situation. Sometimes an actual physical illness can cause depression-like symptoms so that is why it is best to see your regular physician first to be checked out. Your doctor should be able to refer you to a psychiatrist if the severity of your depression warrants it. Other sources of help include the members of the clergy, local suicide hotline, local hospital emergency room, or your local mental health center, which can provide local and broader references. Following is a list of organizations in the USA:   1. NOSAD National Organization for Seasonal Affective Disorder (USA) NOSAD is a national group founded in 1988 to support the interests of patients with SAD. Its membership is open to patients, relatives, friends, interested professionals, and any others who wish to further its goals. These include: Disseminating information about SAD by means of a regular newsletter; Offering support groups to patients and their families in a manner that has been successful for many other medical and psychiatric illnesses; Working for things that are important to people with SAD - for example, insurance reimbursement for light fixtures. The parent body has been established in the Washington DC metropolitan area, but members are eager to develop satellite groups across the country. If you are interested in finding out more about NOSAD, or in starting your own local chapter of the group, write to: NOSAD P.O. Box 40190 Washington DC 20016 OLD, OBSOLETE Address: P.O. Box 451 Vienna, VA 22180 301-762-0768 Note from BioBrite@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 Subject: NOSAD NOSAD has been re-started. A new newsletter has been put together and will be mailed shortly to past members. Source: David Beningson, Marketing Manager, Bio-Brite

2. SADA - the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (UK) SADA is the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association. It is a UK registered charity (No. 800917) which is there to help people with SAD by providing information. It organises meetings for sufferers and professionals, it has a nationwide network of support groups, it provides SAD information packs to sufferers, to health professionals and to the media. It keeps an eye on scientific developments in the field. SADA was founded by Jennifer Eastwood in 1985. SADA has now grown into a professional organisation. The annual membership fee is very resonable, and well worth it. To obtain information send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to: The Secretary, SADA PO Box 989 London SW7 2PZ Source: Mike Ferenczi   3. Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms Updated address: SLTBR 10200 West 44th Avenue, Suite 304 Wheat Ridge, Colorado, 80033-2840, USA Tel: (303) 424-3697 Fax: (303) 422-8894 email: sltbr@resourcenter.com They also have a new (3 Apr 96) Website at: http://www.websciences.org/sltbr/ Source, dated 3 April 1996: Raymond W. Lam, M.D. Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia Director, Mood Disorders Clinic Vancouver Hospital & Health Sciences Centre 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 2A1 Tel: 604-822-7325 Fax: 604-822-7922 E-mail: rlam@unixg.ubc.ca Web: http://www.psychiatry.ubc.ca/ray/ray.html   4. Sun Net Sun Net P. O. Box 10606 Rockville, MD 20850   5. Seasonal Studies Seasonal Studies National Institute of Mental Health Building 10/4S-239 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20892 Please email additions, updates, corrections, etc. to Lou Puls at lpuls@nyx.net 5. Where can I find help in the United Kingdom?  The following are places one might find help in Great Britain: Depressives Associated PO Box 1022 London SE1 7QB Depressives Anonymous 36 Chestnut Avenue Beverley Humberside HU17 9QU MIND (National Association for Mental Health) 22 Harley Street London W1N 2ED The Samaritans (Telephone counselling service & hotline) Tel: 0345 909090 Local call. To find a psychiatrist/ psychologist near you, call or write: Royal College of Psychiatrists 17 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8PG Tel: 0345 909090 Local call. Return to TOP

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