[Gemme]

Originally Posted by charley

...*snip*...I don't suffer from S.A.D. (which is supposedly mild bipolar) but I know many here in B.C. who do and who have the "blues" in the rainy season.

While I agree with what you wrote about the effect of her mother's suicide on Frances and the general sentiments, I have to respond to the underlined snipped part as it's not accurate. S.A.D. is a type of depression. It can be confusing because there is a bipolar depression but that is the balance to the manic episodes. The two going back and forth are what make it "bi"polar versus unipolar, which is the more typical depression you may hear about.

This is the best explanation that I've found thus far.

Doctors have long distinguished between seasonal depression and seasonal bipolar disorder. Seasonal depression — commonly referred to as SAD, for seasonal affective disorder — is a mood disorder brought on by the biological effects of a lack of sunlight. Typically experienced in the late fall and winter, it is particularly prevalent in northern regions, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). What distinguishes seasonal bipolar disorder from SAD is the presence of a manic episode within a given period of time.

People must have a history of manic or hypomanic episodes (the extreme highs) to be diagnosed with a bipolar mood disorder, explains Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and an assistant professor at the Harvard University Medical School. If that’s not part of their medical history, he says, then their seasonal winter response is a depressive disorder and not bipolar.