EDMOND — Almost everyone gets tired of the long, hot summer days in Oklahoma. We all know the extreme heat can be hazardous to our physical health, but psychologists say it can be detrimental to our mental health as well.
“Folks that I’m seeing for other reasons say to me that they’re worse in the summer,” said Ann Benjamin, a local licensed professional counselor. “They do hover inside and don’t want to get out. So I say, ‘let’s talk about that,’ and it turns out they are very affected by the weather.”
Susan Ramseyer, an Edmond licensed psychologist, agreed. “The heat and dryness are really wearing on people,” she said.
For some Oklahomans, though, the hot summer weather is more than just an irritant. For people with a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, it can be
debilitating.
Seasonal depressions were noted by doctors as long ago as Hippocrates, according to the medical Web site www.priory.com, but the syndrome has become more familiar in recent years. The diagnostic term “SAD” was coined in 1985 and is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.
Winter SAD, related to cold weather and lack of daylight, is estimated to affect about 5 percent of adult Americans, while summer SAD affects only about 1 percent, with women sufferers outnumbering men.
“Winter SAD gets a lot more press,” Benjamin said. “We don’t think about SAD in the summer so much, but I think it is real.”
Typical symptoms of SAD include depression, decreased energy, irritability, difficulty concentrating, anxiety and social withdrawal. SAD patients also may suffer from chronic sleepiness and increased or decreased appetite.
Summer SAD sufferers may retreat to air-conditioned indoor spaces, but that creates a problem, too, since air conditioning can create an imbalance of positively charged ions in the air, thought to contribute to SAD symptoms.
A Columbia University study published in 1995 showed some sufferers do find relief by using negative ion generators to refresh the air.
“Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness and more mental energy,” said Pierce J. Howard, author of “The Owner’s Manual for the Brain.”
Howard said people who are sensitive to ionization tend to feel sleepy when around air conditioning, but feel immediately refreshed and invigorated when they step outside or roll down the car window, particularly on a cool, damp day.
Electric ionizers are available in specialty stores at the mall or online. The price ranges from around $20 for an automobile version to more than $1,000 for a home air cleaner.
Ramseyer said she recommends people with summer SAD, like those with other types of depression, exercise regularly — in the cool morning, of course.
“It’s the last thing you want to do, but it helps,” she said.
Benjamin said self-care is important when dealing with summer SAD.
“People have to develop their own plan to cope with it,” she said. “They need to realize that it’s more difficult to manage their mood in the summertime. They need to say, ‘I will have to press myself to do the energizing activities I enjoy.’ I know it’s hard to find that motivation, but knowing yourself and what energizes you is key.”
When behavioral changes don’t help, doctors can prescribe antidepressants, but people who take prescription drugs may need to be more watchful during summer weather, Ramseyer said.
But hope may be on the horizon, even so.
“The good news is that the summer type of SAD usually goes away by the end of August,” Ramseyer said.
