Seasonal affective disorder refers to the experience of depleted serotonin that often happens during the winter months, in states that don’t see a lot of sunlight. For some states in the Midwest, a low cloud cover means that there might not be sun for days at a time. Per the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), 6% of Americans struggle with SAD.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known as SAD) does not necessarily refer to the absence of sunlight alone, it can happen when temperatures are depleted; when the landscape is gray and lifeless. When plants die; when the grass turns to a shade of brown and animals go into hibernation. It can be a lonely, unhappy place to be.

Many people attempt to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, which will only worsen depression, and make a person feel far worse than they did before.

Plenty of people are depressed in the winter, but the loss of sunlight takes a real toll on people. Depleted serotonin levels contribute to feelings of despair, maybe hopelessness. When individuals struggle with SAD, parts of daily life are affected significantly. It might be harder to relate to other people or to do one’s job effectively, especially when concentration is affected as it often is with depressive symptoms.

Treating one’s SAD with alcohol makes sense, as the uplifting effects of alcohol can help with depression, if only briefly.

While after time, the effects of SAD do lessen, and symptoms of depression can ease over time, for some, the effects of SAD can be too disheartening and turbulent to ignore. When SAD disrupts your daily life and makes it difficult to function on a daily basis, it is likely time for a medical intervention—bigger consequences can occur over time, and depression can extend into spring, summer and fall. This also doesn’t account for the fact that symptoms of SAD can occur throughout the same cycle, year after year.