Tag Archive for: seasonal affective disorder

Why I Believe SAD Is Real

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Let’s take a closer look at the study on seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The questions this study raises are two-fold:

  •  Were the research methods used appropriate to answer the question?
  •  Were the conclusions the researchers made warranted?

Without getting too technical, there are several problems. First, all the researchers could do is see if each of the events were correlated—the Depression Survey, the weather and latitude, and the season of the year. That’s all. Correlation does not mean cause and effect. It’s puzzling that experienced researchers would say there . . .

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How SAD Was Measured

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Let’s take a look at the study that concluded SAD was folklore. The researchers used data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System questionnaire (BRFSS 2006). This is a telephone survey conducted every year in the US. In 2006, over 34,000 people responded to the phone survey. The survey varies from 199 questions for the short version and up to 373 questions for the full survey. The phone numbers are generated at random and reflect the population distribution of the US.

Because the survey is given throughout the year, all areas in the U.S. will be . . .

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Is Seasonal Affective Disorder Real?

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Not according to a recently published study. At least, that’s what the headlines about the study suggested. While not exactly using these words, a group of psychologists said, “We’ve proven that SAD is just a big scam so that pharmaceutical companies can sell more drugs. It has no place in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s folklore and should be removed!”

There is a whole lot in those statements, and I’ll break down this study this week to see if what they said is real or not. To me, SAD is real based . . .

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