Sleep Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can be rather difficult to diagnose because it is hard to differentiate from other forms of depression. Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and how long you have been experiencing them -- in particular, whether you've experienced symptoms of SAD for at least two consecutive years and whether it was during the same season each year. In addition, your doctor will want to know if the periods of depression were followed by seasons when you did not feel depressed. Lastly, your doctor will want to make sure that there are not other explanations for the changes in your mood or behavior.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated November 4, 2007