Dr Philippa discusses symptoms of seasonal affective disorder

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On ITV’s This Morning, Dr Philippa Kaye has spoken about a winter condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). She explained that about one in 20 people suffer from this condition. What’s worse, these people are affected for 40 to 50 percent of the year. The doctor listed the lesser-known symptoms that impact your body, rather than your mind.

Dr Philippa shared how the condition can affect you: “People often ask how do I know if I’ve got depression or seasonal affective disorder?

“Obviously, your mood can be affected, you may get depressed, [feel] low, irritable, anxious.

“And that may then make you withdraw and become more socially isolated.

“But you can get physical symptoms as well.”

She explained the physical symptoms and how they differ from depression.

The doctor said: “In depression, although you can sleep more, classically you get insomnia.

“In seasonal affective disorder, you tend to sleep more, and more and more, and not be refreshed when you wake up and have huge levels of fatigue.

“And actually, your appetite increases while in other forms of depression it tends to decrease.

“In seasonal affective disorder, you crave carbohydrates, your appetite increases and often that leads to weight gain.”

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