Hometown, Alaska: Seasonal Affective Disorder

Wed, December 16, 2009
Posted in Hometown, Alaska

In addition to her highlighter collection, plants, and family photos, a SAD light hovers over Brittany when she sits at APTI’s front desk during the winter months.

Alaskans are at the deepest trough of winter darkness, just five days to the bottom — Winter Solstice, Dec. 21. If you’re feeling the absence of light and seek some relief, listen as three experts discuss the latest on Seasonal Affective Disorder. Joining host Kathleen McCoy, psychiatrist Aron Wolf, SAD lights vendor Joe Vergnetti, and a UAA Student Health & Counseling nurse practitioner Georgia DeKeyser Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 on Hometown, Alaska.

Download Audio (MP3)

PARTICIPATE:

Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
Send e-mail to hometownalaska@kska.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)

HOST: Kathleen McCoy, independent journalist

GUESTS:

Dr. Aron S. Wolf, MD, local psychiatrist
Joe Vergnetti, SAD lights vendor, Lake Otis Pharmacy
Georgia DeKeyser, nurse practitioner, UAA Student Health & Counseling Center

LIVE: Wed, December 16, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

REPEAT: Wed, December 16, 2009 at 10:00 p.m.

SUBSCRIBE:

Get Hometown, Alaska updates automatically by e-mail, RSS or podcast

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Comments

2 Responses to “Hometown, Alaska: Seasonal Affective Disorder”

Carol Clemens on December 16, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Will you address the role of thyroid function in SAD? For the first time in 36 winters I feel “normal” and don’t have uncontrollable cravings for carbs, fats and sweets since taking thyroid concentrated tissue for low thyroid.
BUT, the darker it gets, the less I can sleep. Can you talk about that? I was tested high in melatonin so that would not work.
Mom on December 17, 2009 at 7:18 am

My 15 year old son likely fell into SAD’s grip this Fall and Winter. Combine this with the new stress of Honors classes and well, we’ve written off his grades for this Semester.

Very debilitating.

Share your comment or question. Comments are moderated to prevent comment spam and promote civil discourse.