Does weather change your mood?

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

You're all wrong. SAD is a division of the CIA, and you don't some much "have it," as it "comes after" you.

[origami_alligator]

Um, no. That's incorrect. SAD (which is a hilarious acronym) is statistically linked to light levels and occurs at much higher rates during the arctic circle's winter than somewhere closer to the equator. It is a real phenomenon and, much like regular depression, is associated with neurotransmitter imbalances. If SAD were bullshit, light therapy wouldn't work (and it does!).

I understand the link between the amount of sunlight a person gets and their emotional state. Vitamin D deficiency and a lack of blue light would make most everybody feel depressed. Saying that a person has a disorder or that there are higher rates of said disorder based on their location is bullshit. Disorders are not defined by location.

[otters]

Um, no. That's incorrect. SAD (which is a hilarious acronym) is statistically linked to light levels and occurs at much higher rates during the arctic circle's winter than somewhere closer to the equator. It is a real phenomenon and, much like regular depression, is associated with neurotransmitter imbalances. If SAD were bullshit, light therapy wouldn't work (and it does!).

I understand the link between the amount of sunlight a person gets and their emotional state. Vitamin D deficiency and a lack of blue light would make most everybody feel depressed. Saying that a person has a disorder or that there are higher rates of said disorder based on their location is bullshit. Disorders are not defined by location.

To someone who knows two people who have been officially diagnosed with SAD, and for whom light therapy helps, this sounds like a douchebaggy thing to say.

[Tanner]

Um, no. That's incorrect. SAD (which is a hilarious acronym) is statistically linked to light levels and occurs at much higher rates during the arctic circle's winter than somewhere closer to the equator. It is a real phenomenon and, much like regular depression, is associated with neurotransmitter imbalances. If SAD were bullshit, light therapy wouldn't work (and it does!).

I understand the link between the amount of sunlight a person gets and their emotional state. Vitamin D deficiency and a lack of blue light would make most everybody feel depressed. Saying that a person has a disorder or that there are higher rates of said disorder based on their location is bullshit. Disorders are not defined by location.

Disorder: a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning.

The rotational axis of Earth most dramatically tilts extreme northern and southern locations more than the equator so you tend to have long episodes of light followed by equally long episodes of darkness at those extremes. When you go for three months at a time without seeing the sun, it is going to have an effect on your behaviour and your biology partly because our perception of our environment is altered and partly because of the nutrients that the sun provides us on a chemical level. It is going to cause an affection, a disorder, on a seasonal basis. It can be, as has already been stated, treated with light therapy.

[otters~1]

officially diagnosed with SAD

Ahahahaha. SAD.

[origami_alligator]

I'm not trying to denounce light therapy or that a lack of sunlight does not have an effect on your mood. I'm simply saying it is not by definition a disorder. If SAD is considered to be heavily attributed to light levels do you consider a person who works a graveyard shift throughout the entire year to have a similar disorder? If you get sad in the wintertime and light therapy keeps you happy then that is great. I'd rather hear that you feel better when you stand in front of a blue light for an hour than hear about how the winter makes you cry about nothing.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), SAD is not a unique mood disorder, but is "a specifier of major depression".[2]
...
According to the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV,[8] criteria, Seasonal Affective Disorder is not regarded as a separate disorder. It is called a "course specifier" and may be applied as an added description to the pattern of Major Depressive Episodes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder or patients with Bipolar Disorder.

Thus calling it a disorder is inaccurate. It is more a symptom of depression than a cause of it.

[Tanner]

I'm not trying to denounce light therapy or that a lack of sunlight does not have an effect on your mood. I'm simply saying it is not by definition a disorder. If SAD is considered to be heavily attributed to light levels do you consider a person who works a graveyard shift throughout the entire year to have a similar disorder? If you get sad in the wintertime and light therapy keeps you happy then that is great. I'd rather hear that you feel better when you stand in front of a blue light for an hour than hear about how the winter makes you cry about nothing.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), SAD is not a unique mood disorder, but is "a specifier of major depression".[2]
...
According to the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV,[8] criteria, Seasonal Affective Disorder is not regarded as a separate disorder. It is called a "course specifier" and may be applied as an added description to the pattern of Major Depressive Episodes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder or patients with Bipolar Disorder.

Thus calling it a disorder is inaccurate. It is more a symptom of depression than a cause of it.

Firstly, this is the first time you've said anything about that you just have a problem with the name of the thing. You've entirely changed your angle on this.

Secondly, I don't debate semantics on the internet anymore. I'm not young enough.

[origami_alligator]

If anything I think I've strengthened my original argument. It's not a disorder at all and that's what I said from the beginning. The only thing that has changed in my argument is that I've accepted it as a real thing whereas before I did not. The criteria for diagnosing SAD is much more than just seasons making you sad once in a while.

[Donfuy]

Sometimes that ray of light in my face after raining a lot changes my mood. Even if only for some seconds.
I feel like I screwed up something in that phrase up there.

Am I happier/sadder when it's sunny/rainy? No.

[Kablizzy]

Yes, but not statically. Like, I'm not always happy when it rains, not always happy when it's sunny, etc. Depends on the previous mood, I suppose.

[mintnut]

If I made the weather, it would be blisteringly hot ALL THE FLIPPING TIME. I really cannot be doing with rain, especially since it's been haunting me recently, it only ever seems to be sunny when I have no time to enjoy it - bloody sentient meteorological conditions! But yeah, I love all things to do with summer; long dawn/dusk, pimm's o'clock, cricket, wearing shorts, raspberries, outdoor music, picnics, barbecues, girls wearing summer dresses, ice cream, jumpers for goalposts, jam, jamming, walking on the canals, joints in forests all this stuff, and it's all better/best in the SUN!

In short, I love the sunshine.