Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The winter months in Western New York can be depressing for a number of reasons. For some, though, it's more than the blues. It's Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and mental health experts say we're in the thick of it.
According to Dr. Wendy Weinstein from BryLin, 20%-to-25% of people suffer from seasonal depression.
"Seasonal depression is a disorder in which you're depressed, primarily because of shorter days, and lack of sunlight," explained Weinstein in an interview with WBEN.
Dr. Weinstein describes someone suffering from SAD as someone who's hibernating, depressed, lonely and overwhelmed.
"It's like depression with hibernation. You don't want to do anything, you don't want to go out. And you feel this fatigue and this low," Weinstein noted.
There are some things people can do to help improve their overall status while dealing with SAD, including going out and exercising.
"The other thing you can do is there are some medications that can help. there's talk therapy, I always tell people, even though you kind of want to withdraw and isolate, make plans and get out with people, because being alone is going to make you feel significantly worse," Weinstein said.
Another recommendation for those battling SAD is the use of a light box.
"It's a box that is about their different sizes now. But it emits the light that's missing during the day. And it's FDA approved that if you use that for 20 minutes, every morning, as long as there's no side effects, it can really treat the seasonal depression," Weinstein added.
Steven Dubovsky from the University at Buffalo says for those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, it can be a long season.
"At the Buffalo latitude, the likelihood of developing this begins in middle-to-late September, and it lasts through mid-March to early April. It's the time when it starts as the days start to get shorter. And if you live in Buffalo, you know the second week in September, the day you start to get noticeably shorter," explained Dubovsky with WBEN.
Mental health experts are encouraging people to socialize more during those times, but that may be easier said than done.
"The problem is, when you're depressed, you don't feel like socializing that much and you tend to be more withdrawn. Your energy's low, your interest is low. So when you say to somebody who's in this state of mind, I want you get up, go to the gym, exercise a little bit, go see your friends. It's good if you can do it. But the problem with advising this is for people who can't muster the energy to do it," Dubovsky noted.
In addition to Dr. Weinstein, Dubovsky also recommends any dealing with SAD to try artificial lighting.
"You can put it on a timer, just like you do your house lights and time it to turn on if you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, put the light on a timer and it'll turn itself on. Say if you want to get up at 630 in the morning. Time to start at 615 It'll help you to wake up and get out of bed and then keep it on keep it nearby for a half hour and you'd be surprised at how quickly how quickly it works," Dubovsky said.
Daylight per-day is increasing with the spring equinox coming next month. The day with the most daylight available is in June with the summer solstice.