Hi, I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson, and you're listening to Episode 9 of The Savvy Psychologist.

I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

We'll use the best of psychology to help you be happy, relaxed, and most importantly, yourself.

We're in the home stretch of what some have called the worst winter in U.S. history.

Trudging to dig out your car yet again, your temper may match the days, short, dark, and icy.

This episode is for everyone stuck in a polar vortex, by request from Dan H of

Providence, Rhode Island. Now, the winter blas are pretty common. Some folks hate the holidays.

Others feel let down once the Christmas tree is out by the curb. And still others get ground

down by month after month of gray skies and grayer slush. And even Wall Street isn't immune.

Indeed, the price of IPOs has been found to vary with the season. As we've mentioned on the show

before, most disorders are the extreme end of normal experiences.

So winter blues is a problem, but a relatively minor one. You feel blah, you eat more Girl Scout

cookies in the recliner than usual, but you manage to function. By contrast, seasonal effective

disorder, or SAD, is more serious. More often than not, someone suffering from

seasonal depression feels like a hibernating bear who's been disturbed, grouchy, lethargic, and exhausted.

You may also feel sad, guilty, hopeless, pessimistic, unmotivated, and self-critical.

And symptoms that are different from a non-seasonal

depression include craving for carbs, resulting weight gain, and sleeping too much. Also, unlike typical

depression, which is equal opportunity when it comes to the season, seasonal depression lifts

like a hemline once warmer weather hits. Seasonal depression affects

one to five percent of Americans in the lower 48, with numbers increasing as we move into

northern latitudes, shorter days, and longer winters. So in Alaska, numbers can top 10%.

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