Collegiate Times

For all of you men who are wondering why your girl is excessively irritable, think twice before you blame it on PMS. Now that the weather in Blacksburg is starting to become a bit bleak, I suggest considering an alternative, and in doing so, I also suggest a better course of action against such a problem.

Seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as simply SAD, encompasses people who are depressed at only certain times of the year, usually the fall and winter. Sometimes it is referred to as the ?winter blues? due to the fact that this is when the disorder becomes problematic. The symptoms vary and are numerous. They include: Irritability, anxiety, increased appetite and a craving for carbohydrates, drowsiness during the daytime, weight gain, problems with work and relationships, decreased activity and a need for more sleep and sadness.

An unfortunate element of SAD is that it usually attacks women. Between 60 and 90 percent of people with SAD are women. Simultaneously, most females who suffer from SAD are between the ages of 15 and 55; prime premenstrual syndrome (PMS) years.

There is, however, another regrettable circumstance where seasonal affective disorder is concerned. Its treatment involves the use of antidepressants, most commonly fluoxetine.

What is wrong with treating a disorder whose symptoms are basically that of depression with an anti-depressant? For starters, there is a much easier way of treating such a condition ? and it doesn?t involve medication. An alternative to swallowing fluoxetine everyday, in this case, is light therapy. Doctors suggest patients sit in front of artificial bright lights, usually in the morning, or program lights to come on gradually a few hours before waking up in the morning.

Not all cases of SAD can be treated with light therapy and some do require the employment of antidepressants; however, these should not be used as the first course of treatment.

First of all, the symptoms of SAD can be present in someone who may not have the condition. Second, these antidepressants that are prescribed may contribute to the problem indirectly. It seems to me that once a person stopped taking the antidepressants in the spring when the condition begins to fade away, it actually wouldn?t. Of course the natural sunlight would help in beginning to get a person with SAD back to a normal serotonin level; however, the body may still need the antidepressants to tell the mind a person is justified in being ?happy.?

Thus the problem: Seasonal affective disorder has the potential to cause harm in patients who suffer from it about half of the year. Antidepressants that are so easily prescribed likely need to be taken the whole year to have the same effect. However, if a person suffers from no mental illness besides SAD, it seems a bit harsh to me to prescribe a medicine for them that they may develop a dependency to. Then again, this is the United States; quick fixes top the ladder in forms of treatment and problem solving.

The quick fix that patients of SAD, and their doctors, seek isn?t really so quick after all. Becoming so dependent on a drug that your overall mood and outlook on life shifts after you stop taking it realistically is more of a problem than the SAD itself.

Thus the solution: The public must begin treating problems, especially ones like SAD, with solutions other than medications. It is far too uncomplicated to build up a necessity for medications, especially those that alter levels of chemicals produced by the brain. Resorting to the use of prescription medication, especially one such as this should only be allowed in dire situations where no other course of action in terms of treating a patient is possible.

I realize that it is up to a doctor?s discretion to determine what he or she prescribes for a patient. It is also blatantly obvious to me that a physician does not attend school for numerous years to be told how to do his or her job. I am simply suggesting that the society we have created become less demanding of what we think is appropriate for us. Doctors know what they are doing; they can recommend the right course of action. People suffering from conditions such as SAD shouldn?t be forced to simply deal with them. They should just consider alternatives to medication instead of jumping at the next quick fix.