What Causes Seasonal Depression?

Can a lack of sunlight really change your mood that much? The answer is yes. Every year, as sunlight disappears and days get shorter, millions of people experience something called seasonal affective disorder, or sad, a form of depression triggered by light itself. Emerging research has been showing just how deeply those darker months affect your brain chemistry, your hormones, and your overall energy. That's why people with SAD often feel sluggish. They oversleep. They crave carbs. Add in the drop in vitamin D3, which your skin makes from sunlight, and serotonin activity, drops even further. Depression, including sad, doesn't come from one cause. It's biological, physiological, and it's social. So recovery and prevention can come from multiple directions. Let's look at what that means in practice. Here are the seven best ways to mitigate SAD first, Oh, the meta demon.