Mother’s Day celebrates mothers. While many enjoy meaningful family gatherings, others may experience grief and loss, which should be acknowledged and addressed. May also marks National Women’s Health Month, focusing on women’s health needs. The Women’s Health Initiative remains a vital tool for understanding women’s unique health needs and the current administration has pledged support despite recent funding concerns.
Mother’s Day
We designate the second Sunday in May to honor mothers in the United States.
American Press Association, C. C. (ca. 1912) Youngest parader in New York City suffragist parade. New York, ca. 1912. 1912 May 4, May 6. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/97500068/.
From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes MOTHER’S DAY, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family.
Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, and Jason Sudeikis lead an incredible cast in a film that intersects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through a crazy week of difficult relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day.
It’s a comedy that will make you laugh, cry, and cheer! (This is an affiliate income-generating link)
Mother’s Day-a sad reality
But life isn’t a sitcom; sometimes family dysfunction, unexpected tragedies, and unfilled dreams can make this and other holidays difficult.
While many will buy flowers and cards for mothers and attend family brunches honoring motherhood, many will also spend Mother’s Day in grief and envy.
Many will spend the day mourning the absence of a loved and longed-for child. On a day dedicated to motherhood and maternal bonds, many will spend the day grieving over what they don’t have or never got to experience.
If this Mother’s Day brings you hurt rather than joy, I encourage you to be honest with trusted family members and friends. Let them know you’re struggling and be willing to ask for help.
You’ll probably find that your honesty will encourage others in your life to open up and share their hurts with you.
If you struggle with depression, anxiety, or other issues that limit your enjoyment of life for any reason, consider seeking professional help. Start by talking to your physician, who may refer you to a mental health professional. You may also want to consider an online source for help available through Brightside.
)This is an affiliate link provided for your convenience. )
Every May beginning on Mother’s Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) leads National Women’s Health Week (NWHW).
This observance aims to highlight women’s health issues and priorities and encourage women of all ages to prioritize their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, or NHLBI. (An agency of the National Institutes of Health, NIH.)
The original WHI study began in the early 1990s and concluded in 2005. The study continued as Extension Studies in 2005 and 2010. The program was groundbreaking because it focused on women’s health when most medical studies focused on men.
The main research areas are cardiovascular disease, cancers, and osteoporotic fractures. Studies also focus on strategies to prevent the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women.
On April 22, 2025, multiple news media reported that the current administration was “gutting” funding for the WHI, shocking the medical research community.
However, barely two days later, the decision was reversed. According to CNN, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “we are not terminating this study.”
Thousands of women and babies get very sick each year from a dangerous condition called preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the post-delivery period.
Preeclampsia and related disorders such as gestational hypertension, HELLP syndrome, and eclampsia are most often characterized by a rapid rise in blood pressure that can lead to seizure, stroke, multiple organ failure, and even death of the mother and/or baby.
Post Images
The featured image was created by the AI feature of WordPress.
The photo of suffragettes with a baby is from the Library of Congress Free to Use collection.
Graphics used in this post are from the Office on Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, womenshealth.gov (last updated February 27, 2025)Accessed at [https://womenshealth.gov/nwhw]
The PDF available for download is from the National Cancer Institute.
Exploring the HEART of health
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This new post shares information about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affecting many individuals as daylight hours decrease, causing depressive symptoms that vary between winter and summer patterns. Treatment options include light therapy, psychotherapy, antidepressants, and vitamin D supplements. It’s essential to seek help from healthcare providers if experiencing signs of SAD, which can impact mood and behavior.
If you or someone you know is struggling or having thoughts of suicide, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In life-threatening situations, call 911.
This information is current as of the date of original publication or update. It may have changed by the time you read this. I invite you to fact-check what you read here.
This information is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. Before making health decisions, discuss with your physician or other qualified healthcare providerto decide what is right for you.
Many of us turned our clocks back one hour this month (if they didn’t change automatically) as Daylight Saving Time ended. Daylight hours are fewer now and will be until the first day of winter, December 21, when they will get progressively longer until next spring.
Many people feel “down” or have the “winter blues” when the days get shorter in the fall and winter and feel better in the spring when longer daylight hours return. (That pattern will be reversed if you live in the southern hemisphere.)
Sometimes, these mood changes can affect how a person feels, thinks, and behaves. If you notice significant changes in your mood and behavior when the seasons change, you may be experiencing seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Characteristics of SAD
SAD is a type of depression having a recurrent seasonal pattern, lasting about 4−5 months out of the year. The signs and symptoms of SAD include those associated with depression as well as other symptoms that differ for winter-pattern versus summer-pattern SAD.
Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of irritability, frustration, or restlessness
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
Decreased energy, fatigue, or feeling slowed down
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
Changes in sleep or appetite or unplanned weight changes
Physical aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not have a clear physical cause and do not go away with treatment
Thoughts of death or suicide or suicide attempts
For winter-pattern SAD, additional symptoms can include:
Oversleeping (hypersomnia)
Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates, which can cause weight gain
Social withdrawal ( “hibernating”)
For summer-pattern SAD, additional symptoms can include:
Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
Poor appetite, leading to weight loss
Restlessness and agitation
Anxiety
Violent or aggressive behavior
The depression associated with SAD is related to changes in daylight hours, not the calendar, so stresses associated with the holidays or predictable seasonal changes in work or school schedules, family visits, and so forth are not the same as SAD.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has an online treatment locator to help you find mental health services in your area.
Diagnosis of SAD
If you or someone you know is showing symptoms of SAD, talk to a healthcare provider or a mental health specialist about your concerns. They may have you fill out a questionnaire to determine if your symptoms meet the criteria for SAD.
To be diagnosed with SAD, a person must meet the following criteria:
They have the symptoms of depression or the more specific symptoms of winter- or summer-pattern SAD listed above.
Their depressive episodes occur during specific seasons (winter or summer) for at least 2 consecutive years. However, not all people with SAD experience symptoms every year.
Their depressive episodes during the specific season are more frequent than depressive episodes experienced at other times of the year.
Who develops SAD?
It is estimated that millions of Americans experience SAD, although they may not know they have this disorder. In most cases, SAD begins in young adulthood.SAD occurs more often in women than in men.
Winter-pattern SAD occurs more often than summer-pattern SAD and is more common in people living farther north, with shorter daylight hours in the winter. For example, people in Alaska or New England are more likely to develop SAD than people in Texas or Florida.
SAD is more common in people with depression or bipolar disorder, especially bipolar II disorder, which involves repeated depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes (less severe than the typical manic episodes of bipolar I disorder). They may have other mental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, eating disorder, anxiety disorder, or panic disorder. Learn more about these disorders.
SAD sometimes runs in families and may be more common in people who have relatives with other mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia.
What causes SAD?
The cause of SAD is still unknown but is being studied. Most research to date has investigated potential causes of winter-pattern SAD because it is more common and easier to study. As a result, less is known about summer-pattern SAD, and more research is needed.
Serotonin
Studies indicate that people with SAD, especially winter-pattern SAD, have reduced levels of the brain chemical serotonin, which helps regulate mood. Sunlight may affect levels of molecules that help maintain normal serotonin levels. Shorter daylight hours may prevent these molecules from functioning properly, causing lower serotonin levels in the winter.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency may exacerbate these problems in people with winter-pattern SAD because vitamin D is believed to promote serotonin activity. Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight on the skin. With less daylight in the winter, people with SAD may have lower vitamin D levels, further reducing serotonin activity.
Melatonin
Other studies suggest that both forms of SAD relate to altered levels of melatonin—a hormone important for maintaining the normal sleep−wake cycle. People with winter-pattern SAD produce too much melatonin, which can increase sleepiness and lead to oversleeping.
In contrast, people with summer-pattern SAD may have reduced melatonin levels, consistent with long, hot days worsening sleep quality and leading to depression symptoms. Longer daylight hours, shorter nights, and high temperatures can cause sleep disruptions. However, these theories have not been fully tested.
Both serotonin and melatonin help maintain the body’s daily rhythm tied to the seasonal night−day cycle. In people with SAD, changes in serotonin and melatonin disrupt normal daily rhythms so they can no longer adjust to seasonal changes in day length, leading to sleep, mood, and behavior changes.
Negative thoughts and feelings about the winter or summer and its associated limitations and stresses are also common among people with SAD (as well as others). It is unclear, however, whether these thoughts are causes or effects of the mood disorder, but they can be a useful focus of treatment.
Treatments for Seasonal Affective Disorder
Treatments are available to help people with SAD. They fall into four main categories that can be used alone or in combination:
Light therapy
Psychotherapy
Antidepressant medication
Vitamin D
Light therapy and vitamin D are treatments for winter-pattern SAD, whereas psychotherapy and antidepressants are used to treat depression in general, including winter- and summer-pattern SAD. There are no treatments specific to summer-pattern SAD.
Talk to a health care provider about the potential benefits and risks of different treatment options and which treatment is best for you. Find tips for talking with a health care provider to improve your care and get the most out of your visit.
Light therapy
Since the 1980s, light therapy has been a mainstay for treating winter-pattern SAD. It aims to expose people with SAD to a bright light to make up for the diminished natural sunlight in darker months.
For this treatment, the person sits in front of a very bright lightbox (10,000 lux) every day for about 30−45 minutes, usually first thing in the morning, from fall to spring. The light box, which is about 20 times brighter than ordinary indoor light, filters out the potentially damaging UV light, making this a safe treatment for most.
However, people with certain eye diseases or people taking certain medications that increase sensitivity to sunlight may need to use alternative treatments or use light therapy under medical supervision.
Psychotherapy (also called talk therapy or counseling) can help people with SAD by teaching them new ways of thinking and behaving and changing habits that contribute to depression.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy aimed at helping people learn to challenge and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors to improve their depressive and anxious feelings. CBT has been adapted for people with SAD (known as CBT-SAD).
CBT-SAD is typically conducted in two weekly group sessions for 6 weeks that focus on replacing negative thoughts related to the season, such as thoughts about the darkness of winter or the heat of summer, with more positive thoughts.
CBT-SAD also uses behavioral activation, which helps people identify and schedule pleasant, engaging indoor or outdoor activities to offset the loss of interest they typically experience in the winter or summer.
When researchers directly compared CBT-SAD with light therapy, both treatments were equally effective in improving SAD symptoms—although some symptoms got better slightly faster with light therapy than CBT. However, a long-term study that followed SAD patients for two winters found that the positive effects of CBT seemed to last longer.
Medications used to treat depression (antidepressants) can be effective for SAD when used alone or in combination with talk therapy. Antidepressants work by changing how the brain produces or uses certain chemicals involved in mood or stress.
Antidepressants take time—usually 4−8 weeks—to work. Problems with sleep, appetite, and concentration often improve before mood lifts. You may need to try more than one medication to find the one that works best.
Because SAD, like other types of depression, is associated with disturbances in serotonin activity, antidepressant medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are sometimes used to treat symptoms. These medications can significantly enhance a person’s mood.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an antidepressant called bupropion in an extended-release form designed to last longer in the body. For many people, bupropion can prevent the recurrence of seasonal depressive episodes when taken daily from the fall through early spring.
All medications can have side effects. Talk to a healthcare provider before starting or stopping any medication. Learn more about antidepressants. Learn about specific medications like bupropion, including the latest approvals, side effects, warnings, and patient information, on the FDA website .
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Vitamin D
Because many people with winter-pattern SAD have vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D supplements may help improve symptoms. However, studies testing vitamin D as a treatment for SAD have produced mixed results, in some it is as effective as light therapy and others found no effect.
Talk to a healthcare provider about any dietary supplements and prescription or over-the-counter medications you are taking. Vitamin D can interact with some medications.
Prevention of SAD
Because the onset of SAD is so predictable, people with a history of the disorder might benefit from starting the treatments mentioned above before the fall (for winter-pattern SAD) or spring (for summer-pattern SAD) to help prevent or reduce depression symptoms. So far, few studies have investigated whether SAD can be prevented.
Discuss a personalized treatment plan with a healthcare provider. A provider can help you decide not only the best treatment option but also the best timing to help prevent SAD depressive episodes.
What are clinical trials and why are they important?
Clinical trials are research studies that look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat diseases and conditions. These studies help researchers determine if a new treatment is safe and effective in people. The main purpose of a clinical trial is to gain new scientific knowledge so that others may be better helped in the future.
People volunteer for clinical trials for many reasons. Some people join clinical trials to help doctors and researchers learn more about a disease and improve health care. Other people, such as those with health conditions, join to try new or advanced treatments that aren’t widely available.
NIMH supports clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, and across the United States. Talk to a healthcare provider about clinical trials, their benefits and risks, and whether one is right for you. Learn more about participating in clinical trials.
I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you turn health challenges into health opportunities.
Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.
I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.
watercress words by Dr Aletha 