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“How Seasonal Affective Disorder Uniquely Affects People with ADHD” [Video Replay & Podcast #487]

Access the video replay, listen to the podcast episode (#487), download the slide presentation, and learn how to get a certificate of attendance for this ADHD Experts webinar originally broadcast on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.

ADHD Expert: J.J. Sandra Kooij, M.D., Ph.D. Verified Updated on March 1, 2024
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Episode Description

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that begins as sunlight dwindles in the fall and continues into the dark winter months. These “winter blues,” which are more common among people with ADHD, cause feelings of sadness and depression, sap energy and motivation, and bring changes to sleep patterns. Reduced sunlight in the winter is thought to disrupt the body’s internal clock, leading to:

  • Feelings of depression
  • A drop in serotonin, the brain’s feel-good chemical
  • A disruption in melatonin levels, which play a role in sleep disturbances

Chronotherapy is a SAD treatment that works by resetting the biological clock in the brain to alter the sleep-wake cycle and to lift mood. This can be done in combination with treatment modalities including sleep-hygiene, melatonin, and light therapy. New research is also illuminating the effect of light therapy on ADHD symptoms as well as SAD. In one study from prof. Kooij’s team involving delayed sleep phase syndrome, the most common sleep disturbance in adults with ADHD, chronotherapy with melatonin reduced ADHD symptoms by 14 percent.

In this webinar, you will learn:

  • How to recognize seasonal mood changes and their effects on ADHD symptoms
  • The ways in which late sleep patterns affects circadian rhythm and SAD
  • How chronic sleep deprivation affects your health
  • About therapies and strategies to improve mood, energy, and sleep during the winter months

Watch the Video Replay

Enter your email address in the box above labeled “Video Replay + Slide Access” to watch the video replay (closed captions available) and download the slide presentation.

Download or Stream the Podcast Audio

Click the play button below to listen to this episode directly in your browser, click the  symbol to download to listen later, or open in your podcasts app: Apple Podcasts; Google Podcasts; Audacy; Spotify; Amazon Music; iHeartRADIO.

Seasonal Affective Disorder: More Resources

Obtain a Certificate of Attendance

If you attended the live webinar on January 16, 2024 watched the video replay, or listened to the podcast, you may purchase a certificate of attendance option (cost: $10). Note: ADDitude does not offer CEU credits. Click here to purchase the certificate of attendance option »

Meet the Expert Speaker

J.J. Sandra Kooij is a psychiatrist at PsyQ, psycho-medical programs, and Head of the Expertise Center Adult ADHD, in the Netherlands. She is a professor of adult ADHD studies at the Department of Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam. She received her PhD in 2006.

Since 2002, Dr. Kooij has been the head of the Dutch Expertise Center Adult ADHD and involved in research, treating patients, educating professionals, informing the public, publishing books, scientific papers, websites, webinars and podcasts, and launched a new ADHD app, Super Brains. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed international papers and more than 20 books or book chapters on ADHD in adults.

Read more here.

Listener Testimonials

“Great webinar; I was unaware about how much sleep and light play a role in our health and wellbeing.”

“I learned so much from today! My brain is buzzing with all the professionals and families who need to know this.”

“Fantastic and eye-opening presentation of this data!”

Webinar Sponsor

The sponsor of this ADDitude webinar is…

 

 

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ADDitude thanks our sponsors for supporting our webinars. Sponsorship has no influence on speaker selection or webinar content.

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