Cheryl A. Major is a volunteer contributor to WestfordCAT news. Email news@westfordcat.org with news.
Many of us who struggle with depression wonder if we are truly dealing with SAD or with clinical depression.
There is a difference. With depression, many aspects of our lives can be affected. They included sleep patterns, inability to sleep, changes in eating patterns and habits, disinterest in things that you used to enjoy and so on. But, what is SAD?
Sadness can be a normal part of life, and people who are not depressed are sad from time to time. We are not all happy every day. Sadness can be triggered by a life event or tragedy such as death, divorce, job loss and so on.
Depression can also be event driven. Personally, I know now that while I was someone who struggled with depression for decades, my deeper bouts with it were definitely event driven. Most often, they were caused by a tragedy or a death in my family.
Other people are affected by the changing of the seasons. Called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, this can make many dread the onset of fall and then winter which brings shorter days and less sunshine.
How do you know if you are depressed or simply affected by SAD…or both?
I’ve put together a short quiz you can take which will help you determine if you may be dealing with a real bout of clinical depression. Â Also in this paper are quite a few easy to put into place suggestions to lighten your mood if you’re dealing with SAD, some of which I have personally used in the past.
Even if you are only moderately affected during the darker months, don’t you want to feel your best no matter what the season or time of year?
You can get the quiz and the suggestions to combat SAD on the right hand side of my website at http://ThinStrongHealthy.com
I hope you’ll check it out and let me know if you try and like some of the suggestions in the report. We all deserve to be happy, and I know depression can suck the life out of you.
Cheryl A Major lives in Westford and is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Her TV show Thin Strong Healthy airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of her blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com  Cheryl offers ongoing information and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier. Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CherylAMajor. She is also a full time residential Realtor with Coldwell Banker with more than 25 years experience.
 Questions? Email Cheryl at cheryl@thinstronghealthy.com and be sure to put Health Question in the subject line. Your question and its answer will be included in a future article.
