I suffer from a mental illness called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Its a reconised mood disorder. Affecting a lot of people, mostly from the cooler climates. Its rarer in Australia as most of this country is warmish enough, but I happen to be one of the few who have been blessed/cursed to have it.

For those who don't know what it is perhaps you are more familiar with bipolar (old name manic depression). SAD is considered a younger sister to bipolar, in that there are two marked mood changes, but with SAD they are dependent upon the weather. For the majority of people with SAD, you are happy go lucky, with energy to burn in summer and completely devoid of emotion, energy or anything else in winter, but for some its the reverse and summer is the killer. And for a small majority, it can be very serious indeed. Again I'm one of those. SAD also gets worse as you age.

Without medication, in winter I get serious social phobia, paranoid tendencies and at its worst, suicidal. Luckily, I can take medication and the only side affects are erratic sleep patterns and prolonged insomnia.

So, why have I brought this up? Well I've had this condition for nearly 30 years, so I'm used to it and manage it very well. But what is little mentioned is mental illness at all, in any kind of weight loss discussion. I figure I'm not the only one out there who needs to have surgery to help me lose weight and also have a mental illness. I just don't think mental illness should be taboo anymore and I wanted to raise the topic for discussion.

Welcome to my world. I have been wearing this t-shirt for a long, long time now. You see, not only is clinical depression part of the Green family inheritance - both myself, both my sibs, and two out of my parents' 3 grandchildren report suffering from problems with depression - but I have noticed that along with my usual array of creepy depressive issues I will get much more messed up during the winter months. It is for this reason that I have been using a SAD lamp for the past 4 years. People ask me whether this works and to tell you the truth I don't know. Winter will mess me up and this particular winter has been an ugly one. We have seen more cold, more snow, and much less sun than usual. I drape myself in the rays of the SAD light for hours every day and still feel fairly lousy. It is always possible that I might be left feeling much, much worse without SAD light. Certainly it is true that winter is a difficult time of year for those of us who are miserable.

But then for a true depressive all four seasons are sh!t, doncha know....

Argh!

I understand you are both currently on medication to treat depression/SAD....and that in some ways this suggestion is minor in comparison, and counter-productive to our "diets" if taken to an extreme....but for what it is worth, this info was given to my youngest DD for SAD.

Carbohydrates kick up the bodies production of seratonin---which is like a natural antidepressant (to my understanding---if I am wrong---please correct me...but be nice please!!) But eating the usual carbs kills our weight loss attempts often times---not to mention what it does to our blood sugar! So her Dr. suggested she eat fruit....but bananas in particular. They do have carbs, but they also have tryptophan and it too kicks up seratonin produced in the body. So it double bumps the natural mood elevators in the body.

This information about the carbs boosting the seratonin, helped me understand even further why so many complain of depression soon after being banded. Add the sudden drop of carbs from the diet---causing a decrease in the seratonin, to the added estrogen being dumped in when you lose weight.....it's a wonder we are not ALL being medicated! Maybe we should be!

I am not making light of the disorder----promise!

Kat

With SAD one of the symptoms of onset each year is a craving for carbs. I could go through a loaf of bread a day and think nothing of it, except I'm allergic to wheat and it attacks my joints I also have PCOS and of course, high carbs are not good for that.

The banana theory makes sense to me. Afterall, we do call most carb rich foods comfort foods and Canadians do like to eat comfort foods during the long, dark, cold winter months.

I think that obesity and depression go hand in hand for many of us. Especially in women. There is documentation that the combo is even more frequent in families with alcoholic members. Good thing we are survivors!

Yup, I've had SAD for years. Wellbutrin has helped a great deal. I also go to the tanning salon. It works WONDERS for me. Yeh, yeh- I know all the dangers about tanning salons, but even going once a week makes me feel like a different person. I hate winter!

This has been a very tough winter for a lot of us here in the midwest and I have heard many, many people talk about being depressed. I have heard that taking the vitamin Bs as there is more than one of those little guys, is suppose to help with depression and so as soon as I can take pills again, I am going to buy some. I try burning scented candles in my house when it is dreary out, but it is just darn tough to deal with and I really feel for those of you who have it so bad. I agree with Trystelle that is seems to run in woman and especially those of us who are really over weight. I think in the past, men who had depression, drank to deal with it and thus the reason for so much alcoholism in families with depression. Sounds like a lot of good suggestions are coming out with this thread and I plan on trying some of them.

Welcome to my world as well ...

100% of my weight gain was caused by medications. I have been on almost every single medication in all classes - benzodiazepines, SSRI's, tricyclics, MAOI's, atypical antidepressants, antiepileptics. This is over a 12 year period.

I have to take trazodone to sleep to keep my cycles in check (difficulty sleeping, I think too much and my brain gets really wired, that's why I was so great at my job in computer science, my brain would start whirring away). Anyways the trazodone causes me to eat when I'm half awake. Other meds caused massive sugar cravings. Thank god for the band as I would be gaining weight again.

Other medications, like carbamazepine, caused me to completely lose all sensation of satiety and fullness. I ate, constantly, was obsessed with eating, could never get enough food, food felt SOOO GOOD. It was scary. I lasted a week on those and gained about 15 lbs.

Have you purchased a SAD lamp? I bought mine from northerntechnologies.com (I think). They work great.

Maybe we should have a section for those who suffer from these conditions...

I take vita Bs everyday, and I take vita D. D is very important for those of us who live in SAD climates. I gained a big bunch of weight when I was put on Risperidone and Effexor. Now I am off those drugs which is fine by me. The side effects were awful: high blood pressure and horrible, major league constipation for the first time in my life! Ugh! At one point they tried me out on Remeron. Another disaster! I became a raving bitch and felt like Ms Pacman. I was eating everything in the house. These days I take Wellbutrin, Selexa, and Topomax for depression and this combo seems to be as good as it is gonna get for Green.

I'm allergic to bananas, so thats out :thumbup:

Have bought a light box, just waiting for the people to deliver it. Supposed to be another 2 weeks I think.

I used to live in Melbourne, which has a much colder winter temperature. I now live in Brisbane which is sub tropical. You'd think that would help, but no. It hits me just as hard here. Only problem is, no-one here knows anything about it. When I had my first visit with the wls surgeon's nurse, she asked me if it was a genuine illness. I had to explain I had been assessed by a Brisbane psychiatrist. I think she still didn't believe me.

Gawd I love this. In summer I think people don't like me cause I'm fat. In winter I think they don't like me cause I'm depressed - can you ever win??

Haha. I've got to say that while I am not allergic to bananas I do hate eating them. In fact I hate most fruits except for those in the berry class. Too sweet for me. I much prefer vegies.

Hang in there, Sunwyse. You will be banded and you will lose weight. And maybe the SAD light will help. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you. And, remember, it could be worse. Much worse. You could be living in Canada. This winter has been cold, snowy, and sunless!

First, thank you for saying something to us all about your illness. Mental illness should not be a taboo topic. As for it's relation to weight loss and obesity, I would have to bet that a good number of us suffer from some mental disorder. Personally, any type of stress or anxiety would lead me directly to food. I know that I've suffered from depression for years.

Thanks for bringing this topic out in the open. None of us should feel alone with it.