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Theoretical Explanations on Seasonal Affective Disorder

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Essay Question: A review of different theoretical explanations on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Introduction: This review will demonstrate a critical awareness of research-based literature in the field of Clinical Psychology and review theoretical explanations on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD can be referred to in many different ways. The most famous include “winter depression”, “winter blues” or “seasonal depression” (Rosenthal, 1998; Marshall and Cheevers, 2006). However, other names such as “Light hunger”, “Grey sky syndrome”, “Cabin fever” (Marshall and Cheevers, 2006) or “February Blahs” (Rosenthal, 1998) can also be associated with SAD. SAD is one of the major depressions that seems to happen during a certain time of the year especially when there are low levels of natural light (Lurie, 2007; Marshall and Cheevers, 2006). SAD is described as an exaggerated version of seasonal variations in mood, energy, appetite and sleep (Justice et al, 1986; Marshall et al 2006), and is found to be a common regular condition that affects a large part of the population. There are many theories and perspectives on SAD discussing its history, symptoms, causes and treatments. These approaches are from a biological/physiological, cognitive/behavioural or environmental viewpoint. History: For many centuries, doctors have recognised an association between illness and seasons. Since ancient times, people have known about the seasonal changes in mood and behaviour. The concept

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