We look at how Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD syndrome) can impact staff and provide advice on how to deal with it from wellbeing luminary, Sir Cary Cooper.
We recently spoke with esteemed mental health and workplace wellbeing expert Sir Cary Cooper for an exclusive interview that will shortly be appearing in IOSH magazine. The interview is also available to listen to in our latest podcast episode. But as part of our conversation, with the evenings drawing in and the weather turning, we also asked Sir Cary about SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Sometimes known as ‘winter depression’ because the symptoms are usually more apparent and more severe during the winter, SAD is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern.
According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists: 'If you have SAD, you may find it hard to wake up on a winter's morning and can often feel sleepy during the day. You may crave chocolate and high carbohydrate foods, such as white bread or sugary foods. You might find you put weight on.
'SAD gets better in the spring. Indeed, around a third of people with SAD have a time when they feel more energetic than usual during the spring and summer.'
In the UK, about three people in every 100 have significant winter depressions, with it being three times more common in women than men.
Symptoms of SAD can include:
If symptoms are bad enough to interfere with daily life, the individual may well have SAD.
persistent low mood
loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities
irritability
feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness
feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day
sleeping for longer than normal and finding it hard to get up in the morning
craving carbohydrates and gaining weight
difficulty concentrating.
Expert advice
However, Sir Cary believes that health and safety professionals can take steps to improve conditions for colleagues suffering from SAD.
'There is some guidance that we know can help to combat SAD,' he Sir Cary.
'Full spectrum light, for example, is one measure that’s very important. Staying inside offices all day long, when you’re commuting in the dark, is an issue. I’d suggest encouraging staff to get out of the office, take a walk at lunchtime, and ensure that people don’t just stay inside. We’re a service based economy so many people are screen driven and people are in front of screens all day long but encourage them to get fresh air and break away from those screens.
'Also, people need other people. Why do we go to a workplace? Partly it’s to team build and coordinate activities, but it’s also to interact with other people and to meet our social needs. So anything that we can do that gets people to take breaks together, for people to go see one another in person – that all helps people during these difficult times. It also helps people to talk about issues they have which are not necessarily work-related issues but which are important to them.
'We are human beings and we need the social connectiveness. Anything you can do to release tension during this period of time would be very worthwhile. Encourage people to meet colleagues, even people they don’t know within their own office. I love organisations that are banning emails between people in the same office. Go and talk to colleagues if they are two floors up or down the hall.
'Also, think about biophilic design: bring nature into the office during the bleak times from September to February. Biophilic design has proven to be very worthwhile for people in an office so bring in flowers and plants.
'Finally, be conscious that this is a heavy workload time. As well as going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, and the cold weather, most people’s in-trays are stacked up between September and Christmas. So this is a real issue that can affect people’s morale, but these steps can help.'
To hear more from Sir Cary, read the January/February edition of IOSH magazine, which will go live on 11 January 2024. You can also listen to the full interview below.