Seven Resources on Treating Seasonal Affective Disorder with Integrative Medicine

A Multifaceted Approach to Treating Seasonal Depression

Wintertime SAD is linked to biochemical changes caused by reduced exposure to sunlight, changes that can throw off the body's circadian rhythm, or biological clock, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

The farther one lives from the equator, the APA says, the more likely it is that one will have SAD. Complicating the picture is that colder weather keeps more people indoors, further limiting their exposure to the sun.

"It's not the cold, it's not the winter per se, it's the reduction of the amount of daylight," said Mark Frye, MD, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Professionals in whole-body health advocate a multi-pronged approach to combating SAD, the idea being that multiple remedies can work better in concert.

"We're complex beings. There's no one thing that's going to fix everything, right?" said Michelle Simon, ND, PhD, the president and chief executive officer at the Institute for Natural Medicine (INM) in Seattle, Washington. "And everything is interrelated, so you have to assess the whole person to effect a cure."

Here's a look at some of the remedies for wintertime SAD prescribed by Simon and others who work in integrative medicine.

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