They cannot feel it because they're just used to telling themselves: I'm feeling low
As winter shortens the days and dims the light, a clinical psychologist reminds us that not all heaviness is equal — some moods pass like weather, while others settle like a season. Seasonal affective disorder, distinct from the common winter blues, is a form of depression tethered to the cold months, disproportionately burdening women and those already navigating mental illness. Dr. Seleme Melato's counsel arrives as both a warning and a map: the descent into SAD is often invisible to those living it, and understanding the condition is itself the first act of care.
- For people with bipolar disorder or major depression, winter does not merely dampen mood — it can trigger mania, suicidal ideation, and the need for multiple medications working in combination.
- The danger lies in normalisation: those slipping into a depressive episode often mistake the descent for ordinary tiredness, unable to recognise how far they have fallen until intervention becomes urgent.
- SAD strikes most severely in August and September in the Southern Hemisphere, creating a predictable but often unprepared-for annual crisis for vulnerable individuals.
- Clinicians and support organisations like SADAG are responding with combined approaches — light therapy, psychotherapy, medication, and community counselling lines — to meet the scale of need.
- Practical anchors — consistent sleep schedules, morning sunlight, nutritious food, and screens put away before bed — are being positioned not as cures but as structures that can hold people steady through the worst months.
When winter arrives, the light thins and for many people the mood follows. Most experience this as a passing heaviness — a sluggish week that lifts on its own. But clinical psychologist Dr. Seleme Melato draws a firm line between that familiar dip and something far more serious. Seasonal affective disorder is depression anchored to the season. Its symptoms — excessive sleep, social withdrawal, an inability to leave bed — intensify over weeks rather than days, and they do not resolve without intervention.
The condition does not strike evenly. SAD affects people from age twenty onward, with women more frequently impacted than men. Most at risk are those already living with mental illness. For someone with bipolar disorder, the deepening of winter can amplify symptoms dramatically — swinging toward aggression and incoherence, or plunging into hopelessness and suicidal thought. For those with major depression or anxiety, SAD compounds what already exists, often requiring multiple medications, light therapy, and psychotherapy working together.
Melato's approach to management begins with sleep — not just its length, but its rhythm. Consistent bed and wake times anchor the body's internal clock. Yet modern habits erode this: late-night scrolling fractures the routine and the next day arrives depleted. She recommends phones away an hour before bed. Morning light matters too — opening curtains allows the body to produce vitamin D that winter naturally withholds. Nutrition, movement, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol all form part of a structure that, while not curative, can hold someone steady.
Tracy Feinstein of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group encourages journalling as a way to notice patterns before they deepen. But Melato's most important point may be this: people need to understand themselves. Those descending into a depressive episode often cannot feel it happening — they have normalised the feeling, calling it tiredness rather than illness. Education about what SAD is and how it moves through a person is what makes it possible to ask for help in time.
When winter settles in, something shifts. The days grow shorter, the light thins, and for many people, the mood follows—a heaviness that settles into the bones and doesn't lift with the morning coffee. Most of us know this feeling in passing: a sluggish Monday, a gray week where energy seems rationed. But for some, what arrives with the cold months is not a temporary dip. It is a clinical condition that demands attention.
Dr. Seleme Melato, a clinical psychologist, draws a clear line between the two. Winter blues are real but temporary—mild symptoms that arrive and depart within days, the kind of low mood that lifts by Wednesday after a rough Monday. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is something else entirely. It is depression anchored to the season, most severe during winter, and it persists. The symptoms intensify over weeks. People find themselves unable to leave bed, sleeping excessively, withdrawing from others. What they describe as a need to hibernate is actually social withdrawal, a hallmark of the condition. The distinction matters because one passes on its own; the other requires intervention.
The condition does not strike randomly. SAD affects people aged twenty and older, with women experiencing it more frequently than men. But the most vulnerable are those already living with mental illness. Someone with bipolar disorder, for instance, may find their symptoms dramatically amplified as winter deepens toward August and September in the Southern Hemisphere. They may swing toward mania—becoming aggressive, incoherent—or plunge into depression so severe that hopelessness and suicidal thoughts emerge. A person with major depression or anxiety disorder faces a compounding effect. Where they might normally take one medication, SAD layered on top means multiple drugs working in combination, sometimes supplemented by red light therapy or psychotherapy, all to manage what the season has triggered.
Treatment is multifaceted, but Melato emphasizes that the foundation is self-care, particularly sleep. The rhythm of sleep matters more than the duration. Going to bed at the same time each night, waking at the same time each morning—this consistency anchors the body's internal clock. But modern life works against this. Screens glow late into the evening. People scroll without purpose, what Melato calls doom scrolling, well past the moment they intended to sleep. By eleven at night, the sleep routine is fractured. The next day arrives depleted. She recommends putting phones away an hour before bed.
Light and nutrition are equally essential. Opening curtains and windows in the morning floods the space with natural light, which the body converts to vitamin D—a nutrient winter naturally depletes. A nutritious meal matters. Caffeine, paradoxically, should be avoided; it creates cycles of highs and lows that worsen the condition. Alcohol and drugs do the same, amplifying the spiral downward. Small actions compound: setting an alarm, stretching before rising, opening the windows. None of these are cures, but together they form a structure that can hold someone steady.
Tracy Feinstein, who manages the call center and volunteers for the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, encourages people to keep a journal—a record of how they feel, a way to notice patterns. The organization's counselors stand ready. But Melato's final point may be the most important: people need to understand themselves. Someone slipping into a depressive episode often cannot feel it happening because they have normalized the feeling. They tell themselves they are simply tired, sluggish, low. They do not recognize the descent. Education—understanding what SAD is, how it works, what it looks like—allows people to see themselves clearly and to ask for help before the condition deepens. SAD improves when winter ends, but only for those whose condition is seasonal alone. For those with underlying disorders, the season is simply one variable in a more complex equation.
Citas Notables
With winter blues, symptoms are mild and passing. With SAD, symptoms are more intense, frequent, and debilitating over a prolonged period.— Dr. Seleme Melato, clinical psychologist
Sleep hygiene matters the most. Try to sleep at the same time and set the clock for the same time to wake up.— Dr. Seleme Melato
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What's the actual difference between just feeling down in winter and this SAD thing? How do you know which one you have?
The timeline tells you. If you feel sluggish for a few days and then bounce back by midweek, that's winter blues—normal, temporary. SAD is when two weeks pass and you're not getting better. You're getting worse. You can't get out of bed. You're sleeping too much. It's intense and it doesn't lift.
So it's not just about feeling sad. What else happens?
People withdraw. They say they want to hibernate, but what's really happening is they're isolating. And if someone already has bipolar disorder or depression, SAD doesn't just add to it—it multiplies it. A person with bipolar might become manic and aggressive, or they might crash into hopelessness. That's when suicidal thoughts can emerge.
That sounds serious. What can actually help?
Sleep rhythm is foundational. Same bedtime, same wake time. But people sabotage this with phones—scrolling mindlessly until eleven at night when they meant to sleep at nine. That broken sleep makes everything worse the next day. Light matters too. Open the curtains. Get vitamin D from the sun. Eat well, avoid caffeine and alcohol.
Are there medications?
Yes, but it depends on what else someone is dealing with. If it's just SAD, maybe light therapy or an antidepressant. If someone has bipolar disorder plus SAD, they might need a combination of medications—antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anti-anxiety drugs all at once.
What should people around someone with SAD actually do?
Check in. Ask how they're feeling. Offer help. But first, understand what SAD is yourself. You can't support someone through something you don't understand. And help them see themselves clearly—sometimes people are sliding into depression and don't even notice because they've normalized feeling terrible.