angelfleur asked this question on 5/1/2000:

Dr. Anne, I have noticed that I often get very depressed, usually in the wintertime. However, when I take multi-vitamins on a daily basis the depression is either gone, or very slight. As soon as I don't take the multi-vitamins, the depression comes back. I want to know if this is a psychosomatic problem or if vitamins really do help allay depression.

DrAnne gave this response on 5/1/2000:

Dear Angel:

Based on your description of the depression usually occurring in the wintertime, it's very likely that you have a mild seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It tends to occur in the winter when there's less light everyday than during the other seasons. The preferred treatment for this is light therapy. One of the putative effects of light therapy (which is typically administered by using a "light board" that simulates and replaces the daylight missed during the winter), is to increase Vitamin D. So your observation may well be accurate and you have found an effective treatment for mild SAD for yourself. Vitamin D replacement actually has been tried as a treatment and it didn't help a statistically significant number of participants in research, but it did help some people (the number just didn't reach significance). So just keep taking the vitamins -- great that you respond so well!

DrAnne

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