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Seasonal Affective Disorder



             With the awareness that human physiology responds to light, Dr. Lewy, a psychiatrist, arranged to treat Mr. Kern's depression by extending his day length and creating an artificial summer. Since human physiology did not appear to respond to normal levels of artificial light, the researchers used a high-intensity light (2000 lux), in an attempt to duplicate the effects of sunlight.
             Mr. Kern was exposed to two extra hours of this bright light, both in the morning and in the evening. The treatment worked. Within a short period the patient's depression lifted, and the practice of "light therapy" or photo therapy for the treatment of seasonal pattern depression was born. Dr. Lewy termed this seasonal depression "Seasonal Affective Disorder," and coined the acronym "SAD," which is commonly used to this day. A milder, sub-clinical condition is known as "The Winter Blues" or "Cabin Fever".
             This disorder wasn't accepted or classified as a disorder by the American Psychiatric Association until 1987. There is of course constant and ongoing research on this disorder because the exact causes are still unknown. From what has been determined so far there are just a few known causes that make up the problems of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Being a mammal we relay on our internal clocks, medically known as circadian rhythm, to let us know the difference between the time to be awake and the time to sleep. As you may notice in the morning as the sun begins to rise and shine through your window, your body automatically will react by beginning the waking process. During the winter the sun rises later and set earlier causing our biological clock to shift. Lack of sunlight causes the melatonin (a hormone related to sleep) to produce. When we sleep, melatonin is released because it is a chemical that is increased by darkness. Melatonin decreases as the sun begins to rise because it senses the light, causing us to start the waking process.


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