Heidi Behrendt Featured in The Daily Wellness: “The Therapist’s Corner”
Sharing insights on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the importance of prevention.
We’re thrilled to share that Heidi Behrendt, MSW, LICSW, was featured in the global publication The Daily Wellness — a trusted source for health and wellness insights reaching readers around the world. Heidi’s article, published in the “The Therapist’s Corner” section, explores the topic of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) — what it is, why prevention matters, and how we can adapt to seasonal changes with awareness and self-compassion.
This feature is a wonderful recognition of Heidi’s experience and her passion for helping clients find balance, resilience, and wellness throughout the year — no matter the season.
You can read Heidi’s article below, or view it in The Daily Wellness here:
👉 Read it on The Daily Wellness
What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and Why Prevention Matters?
By Heidi Behrendt, MSW, LICSW
Across the globe, seasonal changes affect daily functioning. Snow, ice, and bitter cold temperatures limit mobility and outdoor time, as do monsoon, hurricane, and tornado seasons. SAD is technically not a diagnosis on its own—it's diagnosed as Major Depressive Disorder that occurs about the same time of year for two years in a row, with symptoms subsiding or completely disappearing when the problematic season is over.
While SAD is most noted for the reduction of daylight, it can also occur for some individuals with the onset of spring and summer. From a global perspective, SAD affects individuals in every corner of the world and describes a process of external seasonal changes creating an imbalance in our circadian rhythms, better known as our internal clocks. The goal is to find routines, strategies, and support to help your internal clock adjust to the external clock we call a season.
To add a bit of humor, because humor is always good medicine—I have a small dog who started staring at me, jumping around, and climbing on me around 3:00 PM about a month ago. It took me a solid week to notice the change in daylight and realize he was quite sure it was time for food. Animals don't have the guidance or burden of clocks, schedules, and tasks—they also work to adapt to seasonal changes.
Understanding SAD
The phenomenon of SAD is not overly researched, and literature tends to be sporadic or limited to areas where there are high prevalence rates. That said, some of the research that has been done has been helpful in promoting early detection, leading to positive guidance on prevention and treatment.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, "It is estimated that millions of Americans experience SAD, although many may not know they have this common disorder." It's human nature to find explanations for how we are feeling: "It's just the winter blues"; "I'm just hibernating"; "This is just me—I get into a mood"; or "It's just the holiday stress."
Somewhere along the way, autumn and early winter festivities celebrated across the world became lumped together for this heightened sense of "Holiday Stress." Becoming hyper-focused on managing the stressors involved with family and friend gatherings masks early detection.
Many people have undiagnosed and untreated SAD, which means many have struggled with depressive symptoms at about the same time each year and have adapted to and normalized their suffering. The message here is: you don't need to struggle or suffer.
How Seasonal Changes Affect Your Body
Seasonal changes affect our biological functioning. Years ago, if you looked up the forecast for the day, you would see a temperature range of high and low.
Today, a weather forecast includes traditional temperature range along with barometric pressure, humidity level, UV index, and air quality—all of which affect daily functioning. The weather is just as complicated as the biological changes that happen in the brain and body for those who are sensitive to seasonal changes.
For example, less daylight causes some individuals to produce less serotonin naturally. Serotonin is the chemical in the brain that works to regulate mood. Early detection matters! Not to put a label on you, but to help you understand that SAD is a serious condition that can respond to prevention and treatment measures. It's all about how to adjust your internal clock to the changes that occur externally.
Taking Your Own Temperature: Mood and Symptom Tracking
Using weather as an analogy, early detection and prevention begin with taking your own individual temperature daily (also known as mood and symptom tracking). This is a quick scan before launching into the day to determine energy level, mental sharpness, and physical and emotional status.
When you take a few moments to notice where your functioning is physically, emotionally, and intellectually, you are better able to plan the day ahead. This sets you up to meet the day with a higher level of success and satisfaction while affording yourself the kindness and patience that you likely would unthinkingly offer to those around you.
In this brief assessment, you might notice patterns such as:
Feeling sad or down for more days in the week than not, hopelessness, a sense of feeling overwhelmed, and/or irritability
Changes to sleep patterns: increase or decrease in the amount of quality sleep, napping more, feeling lethargic
Changes in weight or eating patterns: quantity, types of food, frequency of eating or not eating
Difficulty concentrating, increased experience of stress and/or anxiety
In some cases, suicidal thoughts, substance use, or problems at work or at home
For a more structured self-assessment, you can access the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), routinely used by a wide range of health providers.
Making Changes and Finding Support
Making changes to your daily routine can be very frustrating. Change itself is the one constant in life, and yet change in daily life is the most difficult to adapt to. To cause further frustration, the coping skills and patterns you used in a previous seasonal change might not have the same effect. Adapting and changing daily patterns is just hard. It's a time to learn how to be kind to yourself and/or loved ones who may also suffer.
Like any other condition, you deserve support and guidance to explore patterns and changes you can make in your daily routine to combat the symptoms.
For example, someone working to adapt to a reduction in daylight hours might try supplementing with a therapeutic, full-spectrum lamp, increasing their activity level (which tells their brain to increase positive chemicals), improving their dietary intake, and regulating their sleep through sleep hygiene habits. If you or a loved one's symptoms are severe, it's important to seek support through your medical provider or engage in counseling.
"Knowledge is power"—Sir Francis Bacon. Allow yourself to notice changes related to seasons, changes in your mood, and overall functioning. When you take the time to notice changes, you can work to make small adaptations for improved functioning, but you also have more concrete information to give your medical or mental health provider to better understand your experience.
Getting Professional Help
Unfortunately, there remains a significant lack of education around SAD and stigma around mental health and wellness. Finding a good therapist who understands SAD can be beneficial to navigating this seasonal disruption to mood and overall functioning. Like most disorders, some people have severe symptoms that affect day-to-day life, while others have milder symptoms. Symptoms are disruptive, no matter the severity.
A therapist will work with you in therapy sessions to learn coping skills, explore light therapy, help you establish routines for movement and daylight even when it's gray, and help you work with your Primary Care Physician to monitor Vitamin D levels, which are often a significant component of SAD.
For more information on SAD, please visit the following link. For assessment and prevention for SAD, work on finding a therapist who can collaborate with you to reduce and manage your symptoms.
Heidi Behrendt, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health and human services. Ms. Behrendt primarily serves the greater Littleton, NH area with her office located in Franconia, NH. She is licensed in NH, VT, ME, and FL for clients who winter in Florida but want continuity of care. Ms. Behrendt works with elementary-aged children and adults through the lifespan.
Why This Feature Matters
Being featured in The Daily Wellness connects Heidi’s work in the North Country to a broader conversation about global wellness and prevention. Her compassionate approach — blending evidence-based therapy with practical, holistic tools — resonates far beyond our local region.
Whether you’re managing Seasonal Affective Disorder or simply feeling the effects of seasonal change, Heidi’s insights remind us that small steps and awareness can lead to meaningful improvement.
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✨ Congratulations, Heidi, on this exciting international recognition!
To learn more about Heidi’s therapy services or to schedule a free 15-minute consultation, click here.
