Maddison Taylor  with Pitt talks with David Ballarotto about Seasonal Affective Disorder - video Dailymotion

KDKA-AM / 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA

Via Zoom

Transcript

00:00So Maddie, thank you for joining me today to talk about seasonal affective disorder

00:06and daylight saving time.

00:07Daylight saving time is going to end over the weekend and it becomes that dreaded part

00:11of the year where you get ready to leave the office at five o'clock or shut off the computer

00:17if you're working from home at five o'clock and all of a sudden it's dark out.

00:21So what do you see with people in terms of how much of an impact that can have on their

00:26lives?

00:27I think it has a big impact, I think, on a lot of people and actually for quite a while.

00:33I think we're all pretty used to, especially in the Pittsburgh area, that change coming

00:39and kind of our energy levels and our mood all just kind of drooping a little bit.

00:43And just some people are more affected than others by this.

00:46And why is it?

00:48Yeah.

00:49So, I mean, a lot of that can have to do actually with just our circadian rhythms and there

00:55being sort of just like too much darkness sort of in the environment during this time.

01:01Our bodies, like internal clock, which kind of controls everything we do, our sleep and

01:05our energy, you know, it really is based off of like sunlight and it's impacted most by

01:11that light.

01:12So when we have kind of that big dip where we start getting more darkness in the winter,

01:18it can have obviously a lot of impact on our bodies.

01:21So what can people do?

01:23I mean, it's one thing to, you know, if you have a problem with something to stop doing

01:28something or to start doing something, but there's really not much you can do when what

01:32you're talking about is completely out of your control.

01:34Right.

01:35There's not a lot to be done about.

01:36It's getting dark out early.

01:38Yeah.

01:39Right.

01:40I think something that is helpful for a lot of people is making sure they are getting

01:44adequate light, especially in the morning.

01:47So in the morning, that's getting outside.

01:51That's having your window open in the morning, letting that light sort of get into your home.

01:56This morning light is really important for trying to maintain like our circadian rhythms,

02:00which will help like your sleep and maintain your energy levels.

02:04So I think that's one of just the most easy things people can kind of start doing, especially

02:09during like these fall and winter months when we are losing light.

02:13What about blue lights?

02:15I read that that's part of the solution, but we've been told over the years that blue light

02:20is bad, especially at night.

02:23Yes.

02:24I think the timing piece there is really, really important.

02:28I mean, our daylight outside, when we see that like there is blue light in this light

02:32that we just have outside, and that is very important.

02:35But blue light in the evening when, you know, our body is thinking it should be it should

02:41be bedtime.

02:42Like we want to go to sleep in a couple hours, but we have all the lights on in our house.

02:46Like that's really confusing for our bodies.

02:48Right.

02:49So trying to make trying to limit the blue light, especially in the evening, these couple

02:54hours before bed is also really important for kind of keeping a stable sleep schedule

02:59during this time and stabilizing your energy as well.

03:03So going back to what you were saying earlier, then, for example, I have on most of my devices

03:08the setting that it will turn off the blue light between sunlight, excuse me, between

03:13sunrise, sunset and sunrise.

03:16Excuse me.

03:17So should we change those automatic settings so that if we're working on the computer,

03:20maybe it's six o'clock in the morning, that we don't have that effect so that we do have

03:24the blue light coming on?

03:26Yes, I think that is helpful.

03:28But of course, there are some people that blue light can really, you know, for some

03:32people it causes a lot of eye strain or headaches.

03:34So it's also kind of taking that into consideration and sort of limiting sort of your time on

03:39these devices.

03:41But I think in the morning, that's when the light is most important.

03:45In the evening, it's less so important.

03:48Let me ask you this, too, because this just occurred to me as we were talking.

03:52So it seems to me that the worst months of the year for this are November and December.

03:56And as soon as you sort of get to January, I just remember starting to leave the office

04:00around 530 in January, there's still some daylight out.

04:03It may be gone by the time you get home, but there's daylight.

04:07The other thing that happens November and December is the holiday season.

04:11So what tips would you have for people who are, you know, concerned about that and for

04:18their loved ones as well during the holiday season?

04:20Because this is the time of year when you may see people that you don't typically see

04:23the remaining 10 months out of the year.

04:26Yeah, and I'm sure like people have like they want to be, you know, their best selves and

04:31they want to be able to enjoy this time with their families, right?

04:35I think it's trying to keep trying to keep consistency in your schedule, trying to make

04:40sure you are getting light in the morning and trying to make sure you're staying active

04:44during the day.

04:46I think all of these things are really important for just making sure that we feel sort of

04:52our best day to day.

04:54And also keeping up social engagement, just being around like other people, you know,

04:59this is also really important, especially during this time, because a lot of people

05:03can start noticing sort of the dips in their mood, or maybe they usually do more activities

05:08outside.

05:09But now since it's getting colder out, they kind of have to transition that.

05:12So it's kind of figuring out, keeping yourself active and thinking about things you can do,

05:17perhaps like inside, that still keeps you active, though.

05:21Would you recommend trying to maybe get away for 15 minutes during the course of the day

05:25if you can go outside for a walk?

05:27I mean, there's, there's no guarantee in Pittsburgh, there's going to be any sunshine, but would

05:31that at least help?

05:32Do you think?

05:33That does help.

05:34Even if we don't have, you know, direct sunshine, there still is enough light, you know, outdoors

05:38to be giving us like some real benefit, definitely.

05:43What tips would you recommend for people to realize that this is something to be on the

05:47lookout for that this may affect them?

05:49You know, there's always the danger of, you know, it used to be the old days, pulling

05:53out the medical encyclopedia and diagnosing something.

05:55And now it's people going online and diagnosing something.

05:59How do you know that you're, you're, you're dealing with SAD?

06:04Yeah.

06:05So yeah.

06:06So seasonal affective disorder.

06:07Yeah.

06:08So like I said, I think the normal dips in mood and energy are really common, but like,

06:11yeah.

06:12How do you know if it's just, if it's just that, or if it's becoming something a little

06:15bit more serious, right?

06:18So I think with like seasonal affective disorder, again, this is like the emergence of like

06:22these depressive symptoms during the winter, during the months where the light levels are

06:27low.

06:28This looks very similar to regular depression.

06:32You know, SAD makes up about, about maybe like one fifth the cases of depression.

06:39So it looks really, it looks very similar.

06:41So what we're looking for is this kind of this lower mood, this flat mood, this loss

06:46of interest, your appetite being changed or like your sleep changing, really low energy.

06:53And the important kind of piece here is that this is really like persistent.

06:57It's lasting, you know, most of the day, nearly every day for several weeks.

07:02So if you find yourself kind of falling into that category, you may be like someone that's

07:07more like susceptible to seasonal affective disorder.

07:11And do you see people who are dealing with this, you know, for the entire several months

07:15that we adjust the clocks?

07:18You do.

07:19Yeah.

07:20The winter.

07:21I mean, I think, you know, the folks that are listening to this and it's resonating

07:24with them, like they know, like every single winter, this kind of comes up for them.

07:28Yeah.

07:29There's definitely.

07:30Definitely.

07:31If you see, if you know somebody who is like that, that somebody you work with or a member

07:37of your family or so that, you know, every winter, they just become really hard to deal

07:43with sometimes.

07:44Yeah, no, it definitely, it can be difficult and it's hard to kind of figure out like what

07:50you should do.

07:51I think the best thing to do is just be checking in with like the people that you care about,

07:57you know, seeing if maybe they should go talk to a doctor.

08:00Maybe you have like, I think even just listening to this and just getting more of this information

08:05sort of out for like people to be hearing about is also just really important for kind

08:10of normalizing this as well.

08:13And what about in terms of any over-the-counter supplements or anything, do you recommend

08:16people look into those things, like something like St. John's wort or something along those

08:21lines, L-theanine, if there's another option?

08:25Yeah.

08:26I mean, I'm definitely not familiar with like any supplements or anything.

08:30And of course that should be something, you know, discussed with your doctor.

08:34Of course, if that, you know, seems to be the cause, I know a lot of the times vitamin

08:37D can certainly be an issue for people and, you know, your doctors, that's something that

08:43can be tested for and, you know, supplements can be, can be prescribed by your doctor.

08:47Okay.

08:48So let me know, because I understand you, your clinic is really the only one in Western

08:54Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania as a whole that deals with SAD.

08:58So can you tell us what people should do if they want to find out more directly from you?

09:04Yeah.

09:05So from us, yeah.

09:06I actually, I did not know that we were the only one, but yeah.

09:10So our lab, you know, we work a lot with seasonal affective disorder.

09:14I want to say, I don't think we're always like the best in terms of like resources.

09:21We certainly at my program in general, I'm a PhD student at Pitt and I work in their

09:28clinical psychology center.

09:30I know we see a lot of people with depression and we also, you know, we give out referrals

09:34for people all the time.

09:36So that's certainly, that is certainly an option.

09:39Okay.

09:41All right.

09:42Well, thank you for joining me today.

09:43I do appreciate it.

09:44And hopefully we can all keep our spirits up over the next few months or so.

09:47Yeah.

09:48And thank you so much.

09:50Yeah.

09:51Bye-bye.

Maddison Taylor with Pitt talks with David Ballarotto about Seasonal Affective Disorder

Category

Transcript

Recommended