New: Shining light on SAD

Elburn resident Sarah Woelfel has seasonal affective disorder, which impairs her ability to function during the winter. She treats it with 30 minutes of light therapy every day, during which she sits by her light box while sipping juice and banking online. (H. Rick Bamman photo)

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When the days get shorter, Sarah Woelfel’s daily tasks get harder.

“Getting a shower and dressed is like a major accomplishment when it really gets to me,” the 38-year-old Elburn resident said.

More than just the winter blues, Woelfel’s funk is a form of depression called seasonal affective disorder that strikes as cold, dreary weather sets in.

The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 10 percent to 20 percent of Americans suffer from symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, which is more common in women.

Cathi Hendricks, a licensed clinical social worker at TriCity Family Services in Geneva, said seasonal affective disorder’s symptoms were more serious than mood changes.

“A lot of people do get affected by the drop in temperatures and darkness,” Hendricks said. “Most of us start eating more, wanting to sleep later, stuff like that.

“When it gets to be an issue is when you start seeing the depressive symptoms coming on.”

Isolation, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and thoughts of hurting oneself can be symptoms of the disorder, Hendricks said.

“It’s a drastic change,” she said. “If it gets to that point, then they’re definitely really down and out.”

The disorder’s cause is not known but is thought to be related to light, said Dr. Michael Mangis, director of Heartland Counseling in Elburn.

“Bodies are attuned to cycles of daytime, and we get used to waking up with it and going to bed when [the sun] goes down,” he said. “It’s the time of year when there are fewer hours of sunlight when people are most prone to it.”

Another sign of seasonal affective disorder is that a patient’s depression improves in the spring, Mangis said.

Sarah Woelfel, who has dealt with depression, noticed her symptoms getting worse in the winter. She also remembered her mother having a “really hard time with all the dark days.”

Woelfel’s psychiatrist recommended a light box, which she uses to simulate sunlight for 30 minutes every morning.

“I don’t look directly at the light,” Woelfel said. “I sit next to it, eat breakfast, read the paper, whatever.”

Mangis said light boxes emit the same type of light as the sun, and the light is absorbed by a patient’s skin and eyes.

Woelfel also takes a February vacation to a sunny place.

“I go to Mexico for a week, and I feel great,” she said.

People who think they might have the disorder should have a mental health assessment and talk with a counselor about treatment that could include counseling, light therapy or medication, Tri-City Family Services' Hendricks said.

“You don’t have to feel like this fall through winter,” Hendricks said. “You can do something.”

Seasonal help

For help with seasonal affective disorder, call TriCity Family Services in Geneva at 630-232-1070.

For information on seasonal affective disorder, log onto these Web sites:

• MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, www.medlineplus.gov

• American Psychiatric Association, www.healthyminds.org

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), www.nami.org

• NAMI chapter serving southern Kane and Kendall and DeKalb counties, www.namidkk.org