What is the difference between seasonal depression and chronic depression?
Struggling with fatigue, hopeless mood, low motivation, and changes in appetite for months and months on end? You may have seasonal depression! Or, you may have chronic depression.
How do we tell the difference and is this difference important? Chronic depression and seasonal depression can often look very similar. This is because the duration component of depression in both of these disorders tends to be more prolonged than a typical depression episode. Someone with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) may struggle with mild to intense symptoms of low self-esteem, worthlessness, lack of energy, poor concentration, appetite changes, sleep disturbances, and suicidal thoughts for a few weeks to a few months. Depressive episodes for someone with MDD are usually cyclical. They may struggle with intense depressive symptoms that eb and flow over time regardless of contextual factors like weather and daylight hours.
In contrast, seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is very much related to contextual factors. People with seasonal depression most likely only experience symptoms of depression during the fall and winter months when there is less sunlight. However, as winter comes to a close and the days become longer, people with SAD experience fewer if any depressive symptoms.
Chronic depression is different from MDD because it is often a lower grade depression that lasts for two or more years. Someone with chronic depression may experience more intense depressive symptoms and episodes throughout the two years. They may even have SAD along with chronic depression if their depressive symptoms get more severe during the fall and winter months.
Most of the differences between these 3 disorders boil down to duration and intensity of symptoms. However, these differences don’t necessarily affect treatment for these disorders in a drastic way. Someone with SAD may seek out therapy and/or medication during the fall and winter months. People with SAD may benefit from more experiential or even group work during the fall and winter in order to increase their feelings of connectedness and behavioral activation. These courses of treatment are ones that may come back to again and again every year. In contrast, someone with chronic depression may be in long-term therapy or on medication for more than a few months. They may even seek out more intensive therapy like intensive outpatient or inpatient programs depending on how severe their depression symptoms are.
Diagnostic criteria aren’t always the most straight-forward in guiding specific treatment interventions for various disorders. It is important to work with your clinician and treatment team to come up with a treatment plan that encompasses your diagnosis and caters best to your individual needs. Want more support? Schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation today!