Q: Every year, as winter stretches on, I feel more and more down. Might homeopathy help?
A: The short answer is yes, homeopathic remedies often can relieve seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression common in winter. SAD is triggered when the limited availability of sunlight reduces the body’s levels of the light-sensitive hormone melatonin, which affects mood.
There are numerous homeopathic options for coping with SAD—but it is essential to work with a qualified practitioner. Success depends on carefully assessing a particular patient’s symptoms—whether those are feelings of melancholy or hopelessness or worthlessness, sleepiness or lethargy, cravings for sweets or carbohydrates, difficulty concentrating and/or a desire to be left alone—then matching those symptoms with the most appropriate single remedy and allowing it enough time to work. Although a layperson may figure out how to self-treat an acute ailment (such as the flu) using a simple homeopathic handbook, depression is a complex chronic condition. For SAD, a thorough professional evaluation is necessary to determine which one of the approximately 4,000 homeopathic remedies available will be most effective for a particular individual.
To find a practitioner in your area: Check the directory of the National Center for Homeopathy (www.Homeopathic.org/resources/practitioners).
