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Prelude's Transitional Housing Program

What Is SAD?

SAD is a fitting acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder, a seasonal depression that coincides with the shortened days, colder temperatures and the lack of sunshine from November to February.

But SAD is more than just a simple case of the winter blues—it changes your brain chemistry, your mood, your appetite, and importantly for addicts, it can reduce your ability to control impulses. 

Stress and addiction go hand-in-hand. Studies show that common symptoms of stress—including a loss of impulse control, the inability to inhibit inappropriate behavior, the delay of gratification, and impaired memory—are well known to support addictive behaviors. And for recovering addicts, stress can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. 

Co-occurring disorder refers to instances when someone meets criteria for both a mental health diagnosis and a substance abuse diagnosis.  This is sometimes called a dual diagnosis.  It is estimated that between 20 and 50 percent of mental health patients also have a co-occurring substance use disorder.

Recently I attended a wonderful conference on treatment resistant anxiety, worry and panic.  Dr. Jennifer Abel, Ph.D. was the presenter, and she is an international speaker and clinical psychologist who has specialized in cognitive-behavioral and integrative treatment of anxiety disorders for over 20 years.  She developed numerous innovative techniques based on evidence-based approaches that effectively treat anxiety disorders and related problems such as insomnia, irritability and fatigue.