Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that usually occurs during the late fall and winter and is associated with shorter hours of daylight. | Pexels/Lamar Belina
Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that usually occurs during the late fall and winter and is associated with shorter hours of daylight. | Pexels/Lamar Belina
- Approximately 10 million Americans experience seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder, each year.
- Chronic sinus problems can also increase the likelihood of experiencing depression.
- Depression caused by chronic sinusitis can be treated by addressing the sinus problems.
SAD typically occurs during the winter, when days are shorter and there is less sunlight than other times of the year, and it is more likely to affect women than men. Treatments for SAD can include light therapy or traditional treatments, such as antidepressants.
Studies have found that people with chronic sinusitis could also be more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, Physician's Weekly reported. One study compared a group of 16,224 people who were treated for chronic sinusitis with a group of 32,448 "similar people" who did not have sinus problems. The study found that over the next 11 years, the sinusitis sufferers were more than 50% more likely to develop depression or anxiety.
Dr. Monty Trimble of Dallas Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers said chronic sinus problems can increase your risk of experiencing depression.
"Studies have shown that there's an increased correlation of major depressive disorders with chronic rhinosinusitis," Trimble told SE Dallas News. "People just don't feel good when they suffer from this condition, and it makes sense that it tends to get people down over time."
A report from Houston Advanced Nose and Sinus found that as many as 25% of people with chronic sinusitis also experience depression, along with more familiar sinus infection symptoms such as headaches, facial pain, a cough and nasal discharge. Depression that is caused by chronic sinusitis can be treated by addressing the sinus infection through medication or a surgery like balloon sinuplasty.
"Also the fact that people don't get it, doctors don't get it, friends don't get it, they don't understand, tends to push people down that pathway (to depression)," Trimble said. "I'm not surprised by the association (between chronic sinusitis and depression)."
For more information about the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.
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