Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Tyler Kjorvestad, director, Comprehensive Depression Assessment & Treatment Clinic, The University of Kansas Health System
- When we're talking about seasonal depression, it’s actually part of an underlying disorder. Major depressive disorder is the common depressive disorder that people suffer and they have a seasonal pattern to the depression.
- Light therapy is a helpful treatment. A portable light can be used and the common standards that we use is 10,000 LUX -- a measure of luminosity and intensity.
- Patients can use this for 30 minutes a day and if it's not as effective as you'd like it to be, we can push it up to 45 minutes or an hour. Some people even use it up to two hours a day just to feel better again.
- If you have major depressive disorders, talk with your psychiatrist or physician about using light therapy because there are a few tradeoffs that you want to know and there are some side effects that you want to be aware of like potentially affecting sleep.
- You can use light therapy on its own for very mild depression, but for more moderate to severe depression, it is a combination approach with psychotherapy and medications.
- Suicides are an extremely serious issue. Between the opioid crisis and the pandemic, because of social isolation, people are struggling to find a meaning or a sustaining purpose to get them through difficult or challenging times. And it's really increasing and putting a strain on our mental health services.
Gregory Nawalanic, Psy.D., clinical director, psychology services, The University of Kansas Health System
- With the holidays and winter, you can see a certain decline in activity as it is dark outside when you leave work, you are going to bed earlier, there are fewer outdoor social activities, etc. You start to avoid social interactions and pull back. It's almost like a social hibernation.
- The more that we isolate depressive symptoms, like sadness and questioning your life, thoughts start to set in and eventually if not checked or not addressed, it can lead to suicidal consideration, and that's obviously an alarming situation.
- It can be difficult during the holidays when everyone is supposed to be social and cheerful, and you have feelings of depression.
- Many feel like they have to be perfect over the holidays – the perfect meal, the perfect gifts – and they can feel bad if they don’t live up to that.
- The world doesn't exist in black and white or all or nothing, but depression will convince you that it does. That can lead to pulling back from support systems and it'll even start to twist messages from your support system.
- The nationwide suicide support number is 988. That is an important tool, but it is no substitute for getting professional care from doctors.
Becky Bowlen, patient using phototherapy to treat depression.
- Becky has been diagnosed with regular major depression, and then has this seasonal pattern on top of it. So, when the winter comes along, that depression gets worse, and it exacerbates those underlying symptoms.
- She was skeptical of light therapy but started using it daily for about 30 to 60 minutes a day and it has helped.
- She uses that light time to do positive things for herself, like listening to positive music or reading positive quotes.
- For those struggling, her advice is hold on and remember that it can get better no matter how much you think it can't.
- She suggests reaching out to your providers and realize that everybody's plan is individualized.
- Her biggest piece of advice is to just be honest with both you and your health care team and support system at home.
Monday, December 4 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. A young football player didn't realize he was in a medical emergency. But an expert on the sideline did. Learn more about athletic trainers, their critical role in high school sports, and how working with the physician at the game, they identified one young man's injury before anyone else even noticed.
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