Identifying SAD Symptoms
For a doctor, diagnosing SAD correctly depends on whether the person has experienced winter depression and other symptoms of SAD for a minimum of two consecutive years, during the same season and whether or not those periods of depression were followed by periods without depression, while also ruling out other explanations for the changes in mood. Rates of those with SAD are higher in people who live at higher altitudes and occur more often in younger people; typically beginning when a person is in their twenties.