There are treatments for seasonal affective disorder. There are special lights for seasonal affective disorder that can help those that suffer from this disorder.

When a otherwise mentally healthy person begins to suffer depressive signs during the winter this is known as seasonal affective disorder. It can be quite hampering on a person's normal life as this starts to set in during the fall and winter months when a person is exposed less to the sun's rays and sunlight.

It is not known why seasonal affective disorder effects some people and not others. It is also not known why it only happens in the winter compared to the summer. Although there is a condition known as reverse seasonal affective disorder that effects a person in the spring and summer months, however this is a lot rarer. It is believed that the reason this disorder effects people has to do with the fact that the body is less exposed to the vitamins and such from the sunlight.

So how is seasonal affective disorder treated?

If it is known that the person is suffering from seasonal affective disorder, a doctor can prescribe antidepressant pills. These take a few weeks to affectively work so it must be started in the late fall before the winter months start. Otherwise it might not work properly. There is another option when it comes to treating seasonal affective disorder. There are special lights for seasonal affective disorder. These lights replicate the UV rays of the sun and allow the person's body to get what it is lacking during the winter months. After just sitting in front of these lights from anywhere from one to four hours it allows the person to be able to function normally during the winter months when otherwise they might be depressed and not working up to their potential. Light therapy is also another option when those people don't want to go on antidepressants for one reason or another. Reverse seasonal affective disorder is treated by the reverse usually keeping the person in a cool air condition room where they are less exposed to the sun's rays as it is believed that over exposure to the sunlight is what causes this condition. Either way there are treatments that help in eighty five percent of the cases.