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NIMH Twitter Chat on Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Live Chat
Every November, daylight saving time ends in most of the U.S., and we have to set our clocks back one hour. Although this time change allows for brighter mornings as the days get shorter, it also means it starts to get dark around the time many of us get off work.
When there are fewer hours of sunlight, some people experience a serious mood change during the winter months. This condition is called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. SAD is a type of depression, in some cases the depressed phase of bipolar disorder. Symptoms of SAD include: irritability, fatigue, social withdrawal, oversleeping, weight gain, feelings of hopelessness, and thoughts of suicide. SAD affects many people in northern latitudes in winter, especially young women, and is usually treated with bright light in the morning.
To learn more about SAD and possible treatments, please join the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a Twitter chat on Thursday, November 13, 2014, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EST. NIMH expert Matthew Rudorfer, M.D., chief of the Somatic Treatments Program, will be answering your questions related to SAD.
Please use the hashtag #NIMHchats to follow and participate in the conversation on SAD. To ask questions, you must have a Twitter account. If you prefer to simply observe the chat taking place, you may do so at twubs.com and view the conversation in real-time. An archive of the chat will be posted on NIMH’s website following the event.
If you have any questions, please email NIMHpress@mail.nih.gov. See you on Twitter!