CMHA sees recent increase in people needing support for seasonal affective disorder – Saskatoon

You may have heard of the ‘winter blues’, but in the midst of a pandemic, the Canadian Mental Health Association (ACSM) said it was seeing an increase in the number of people seeking help.

There is no standard way to determine why a person is facing a mental health problem, because every circumstance is different.

However, ACSM mentioned that Canadians have a particular disadvantage.

The winter months come with cold and dark days, which can be terrible.

ACSM’s Faith Bodner said January is notably the worst month for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as seasonal depression.

“That less exposure to natural sunlight can affect chemicals in our brains – specifically, melatonin – and we can overproduce that and we can become lethargic,” Bodner said.

She added that there was a huge spike in people seeking help and resources at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the addition of a snowy winter, the number of inquiries continued to increase.

“We’ve seen customer contact quadruple from year one of COVID to year two and we’ve also had people contacting us who have never before during COVID and it’s actually five and six. times more than it was. before, ”Bodner said.

Some symptoms to watch out for may be excessive sleep, less nutrition, withdrawal from social activities, or poor hygiene.

Most cases of SAD go undocumented, according to Bodner.

For all those who need help or want to learn more about the SAD, there is more on the CMHA website.