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Many of us will get the winter blues, but seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mental illness and should be treated accordingly, clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire says.
People who suffer from SAD have many of the common depressive symptoms, she told RNZ's Nights.
"It may be low mood, loss of joy, a change in sleeping patterns or appetite, irritability or agitation, change in your libido, those very common symptoms you would see in seasonal affective disorder as well.
"The difference being seasonal affective disorder onsets during the autumn-winter months and people recover, they get better, when the days get longer, the light is stronger, the light is warmer and so there's very much a seasonal pattern to that depression."
The 'winter blues': Seasonal Affective Disorder
So, what is it about those winter and autumn months that can lay people low?
"It's chemical," she said.
"Shorter days have an impact on our serotonin, your happy drug in your body. When you have a shortage of serotonin that can cause low mood, the thinking is it can impact our circadian rhythm, so your sleep cycles, which then also has impact on mood.
"There might be impact on melatonin and melatonin is the hormone that helps drive sleep. So they're the kind of chemical reactions, body processes, that research thinks is what's leading to that seasonal pattern of depression."
There were effective, evidence-based treatments, Maguire said, such as lightbox therapy.
"Anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours you sit in front of this 2500 lux light, extremely bright light."
Medication options from a doctor or psychiatrist for depression, were also an option, she said.
'Green prescriptions'
Maguire recommended keeping an eye on "green prescriptions".
"Ensuring that you actually get outside, even if it's crappy and grey, actually, the light outside is still bright.
"Thirty minutes a day of bright light, if you can do that early in the morning, before 9.30am [then] you're on to a winner."
And do not forget to feed the body, she said.
"Are you fuelling your body with nutritious foods so that you're ensuring from a physical health perspective, which of course through your gut, has major mental physical health links."
And keep your social life as active as possible, she said.
"Are you staying connected with people? Because we all know when it's cold and dark, and days are shorter, you want to come home from work and put on your pyjamas and snuggle up in front of TV, and that might be great some days.
"But are you ensuring that you're still engaging with people, because social connection is critically important for our mental health and wellbeing."
There were signs top watch out for that professional intervention may be needed, Maguire said.
"Is it [SAD] impacting your relationship? If you're a parent, does it get in the way of the way you want to parent, at work does it get in the way of you being able to think clearly or concentrate or manage team members or produce outputs. You can have a look through your life and go what's the impact?
"If the impact is significant, if those symptoms are getting in the way of you living your life well, people relationships, work, community, then that's an indication."
Nevertheless, if you experience SAD, you are still able to flourish, she said.
"People with mental illness can still flourish, the most important thing in psycho education is that whether you have seasonal affective disorder, whether you occasionally experience anxiety or depression or bipolar or whatever diagnosis you want to pick, you still are able to flourish in life and have a good life and be well-connected and have joy and meaning."