Diagnosing Seasonal
Affective Disorder

The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) are outlined in a sort of cookbook called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th edition) or DSM-IV. Your doctor or psychologist uses this book along with what you have told him, and what he has observed and tested to form a diagnosis.

This specifier may describe the depressive episode in major depression or bipolar disorder.

A. A person has experienced a regular pattern of depressive episodes that begin at specific time of the year (e.g., fall or winter), and which are not related to specific yearly stressors such as school/college or seasonal unemployment.

B. The depression also ends or changes at a specific time of the year (e.g., spring).

C. The pattern has occurred for the most recent two years with no other symptoms outside of the pattern.

D. A person has had more seasonal depressions than non-seasonal depressions in his/her lifetime.