In recent years, there has been a marked increase in awareness around the causes, symptoms, and coping strategies for people who suffer the mild to severe symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and seasonal depression—including the declaration of December as seasonal depression awareness month. Despite this, summertime-onset SAD and seasonal depression remain relatively unknown.
Most people in the northern hemisphere welcome the warmer temperatures and longer days of spring and summer. But for the approximately 10 percent of sufferers of SAD and seasonal depression who experience summer-onset SAD, these warmer months are accompanied by serious, troubling, and overwhelming symptoms.
Serious, troubling, and overwhelming
A less season-specific means of understanding seasonal affective disorder and seasonal depression can be found in the more clinical term major depression with a seasonal pattern (MDSP). Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a pioneering psychiatrist and researcher in the field of seasonal affective disorder, was approached by several people following the publication of his initial research on winter-onset SAD, reporting that they suffered seasonal symptoms in summer. In 1987, he published a study of a small group of people who suffered from symptoms of summer-onset SAD…symptoms that set in early in March, as the temperatures began to rise, and persisted through to October. In a 2022 New York Times article, “Seasonal Affective Disorder Isn’t Just for Winter,” Dr. Rosenthal described summer SAD as “a more agitated state of depression.”
Summer-onset SAD, symptoms include:
- feelings of sadness
- increased anxiety
- irritability and agitation
- low moods
- loss of appetite (often accompanied by weight loss)
- a decrease in sleep quality, and an increase in sleep disruptions and insomnia
Disruption of sleep cycles may be due to a disruption of circadian rhythms. Specifically, overexposure to sunlight can impact melatonin production.
Contributing factors
As a result of these symptoms, many sufferers choose to isolate themselves and miss out on beach outings, picnics, backyard pool parties, barbecues, and outdoor concerts. A tendency to isolate and refrain from group activities often leads to feelings of low self-worth and self-shame due to body-image issues, financial stressors of vacations and other costs related to the increased social activities of summer, and an inability to experience the enjoyment of the summer that their friends and family look forward to with joy and excitement.
Rising temperatures, rising concerns
What’s more, recent research strongly links higher temperatures to increases in mental health risks. Higher temperatures and an increase in the number of extreme heat days are known to exacerbate troubling physical and mental health symptoms. A 2022 study found a link between high temperatures and increased emergency room mental-health visits.
Your summer…your rules
If the warmer weather triggers feelings of impending dread of the summer season, it is important to realize that you are not alone and that summer-onset SAD is real. Symptom awareness, self-compassion, and effective strategies, support, and intervention will help you make it through the most challenging days of your year.
Seven steps for managing summer-onset SAD
- Acknowledge your SAD symptoms: Rather than ignore troubling feelings around the approach of summer, tune in to your feelings. Understand and accept that summer-onset SAD is real. Build awareness of your symptoms. Rather than harbor feelings of shame and self-doubt, choose to treat yourself with compassion and kindness.
- Set yourself up for success: Be proactive about your environment. Make summer vacation plans that allow you to relax and enjoy your leisure time rather than suffer through stressful and uncomfortable conditions. Or plan off-season vacations, when you will be more comfortable.
- Socialize strategically: Pay attention to weather patterns, and allow yourself to decline social engagements during periods of extreme heat. You may find socializing indoors or at cooler times of the day more pleasant, or brief appearances at parties more manageable.
- Prioritize quality self-care: Plan nutrient-rich, healthy meals. Engage in activities and interests that bring you joy. Stay physically active—even if this means working out in an air-conditioned gym or early-morning or late-day walks when the temperatures are lower, or following other fitness regimes that do not require being outdoors in extreme weather conditions.
- Set yourself up for sleep success: Create a calm, quiet, and cool sleep environment to set the stage for a good night’s sleep. And in the hours before bedtime, allow yourself to wind down. This means no exercising and no scrolling through social media or other electronic devices or screens two hours before bedtime.
- Confide in friends and family members: Let people who are close to you know that you are experiencing symptoms of summer SAD. You will feel less isolated, misunderstood, and alone…and more supported.
- Take action when your symptoms are overwhelming: Realize that you are not alone. There are supports and interventions to help you manage symptoms, including medication and evidence-based psychotherapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).