Seasonal affectiveness disorder is a legitimate DSM5 diagnosis. However, SAD is used to specify the depression in a diagnosis such as Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern. A handful of the clients I have met with most likely feel this specifically during the fall which is common. Each of these clients have very specific reasons for feeling this in the fall.
One client associates the “feeling” of fall or cooler weather in general with a trauma or tragedy such as a car wreck that sidelined their life. Another absolutely hates it when the day turns to night at 6:30pm because it signifies or triggers a death in some way. Another hates this season because they have lost loved ones during the fall season.
That last sentence is about my dad. My mom, his wife passed in November of 2018. My uncle, his brother, has a stroke in the Fall where we went to his funeral that following January. One reason I did not fully realize until it was said. My dad was told by a doctor that I had six months to live, because a tumor was found on my brain after an MRI in October of 1990. Even though that tumor turned out to be benign, the memory and feeling of that moment was very real for my dad and the fall time has been a trigger taking him back to that memory.
Last Sunday, October 3rd was the anniversary of that event that took place in 1990. It was a strange day because that day I had been looking forward to as I was going to be tested for growth hormone shots. At that time, I stood at 4’8” and maybe weighed 70 pounds. Learning the news about this brain tumor, or lesion as I have been told to call it, completely sidelined me.
On my dad’s end, it was a completely different story. While I was in denial and the angriest that I did not return home for a month, my dad dealt with and even partially processed the possibility of m death. Yeah, I can understand why my dad hates Fall.
Seasonal Affectivness Disorder is still depression. The season of fall is just as much of an impetus for depression as a sudden breakup, the loss of a job or the past year and a half with the fallout and tragedies because of COVID. The clients who do better are the ones when they know a change of seasons effects their mood and able to anticipate and plan accordingly.
Clients who know they will feel different when fall arrives do better when they are able to be proactive and bring in something new whether that is taking a class or joining a small group or Bible study at church. They also realize that whatever this “new” activity whatever is, most likely will not “cure” them of being depressed.
Not to say there is not a case for a client who is able to face the season of fall on their own. Usually, facing a time a person knows will be unpleasant at some level is always done best with other people.
With my dad, whose “case” is much more personal to me and therefore an outlier of sorts, time and making new memories has helped the most. The past three years has been a time where we have had to grieve my mom/his wife passing individually and collectively on. Additionally, we have had to figure out a new normal of sorts of what is like existing together versus the old normal of life when my mom was here. Instead of a family of three, that family is now two… if you do not count a cat.
So, how do you feel when the weather gets cooler, and the days get shorter? Whatever it is, know that your feelings are valid.
If you are looking for a therapist near you then a Google search is a great way of finding one. I happen to be a therapist in Charlotte, NC but am licensed to counsel anyone in the state of North Carolina. In Google, try looking for “psychotherapist,” “find therapist,” “therapy near me,” or even “counseling charlotte, nc.” If you feel like you have hit a wall you are not able to get past, call me at (704) 458-6298 or email me at jeffhelms@clearerthoughtspllc.com.
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