This research is carried out purposefully in order to understand various aspects of abnormal psychology and special interest in the Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is driven by the quest to understand the global and multicultural views related to behaviors of various individuals during a certain periods of the year. Various individuals that live in countries that experience winter season have been seen to show seasonal variations in their moods and behavior. This has affected the way they carry out their activities, their eating behavior, and other aspects that encompasses the life of a human being (Lam, 1988, p. 26). Seasonal Affective Disorder slows down the ability of various individuals to carry out their activities effectively including waking up in the morning, desire to have holiday foods, and depression at most instances. This research will find out various global and multicultural explanations for this disorder and any possible remedy. The research question that will act as a suitable guide in achieving a desired explanation will be: what global and multicultural aspects have been developed towards the better understanding of Seasonal Affective Disorder as an abnormal behavior in the study of psychology? The hypothesis developed for this study will be: Seasonal Affective Disorder is caused by personal fears of various individuals as a result of prolonged darkness during winter (Ōkuma et al., 2002, p. 101).
Seasonal affective disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression that recurs annually when days become shorter during fall and winter as a result of a reaction towards shortage of sunlight. This disorder is not restricted to winter and fall alone because some individuals have been seen to show this kind of disorder during summer. This disorder also has other names like winter blues, winter depression or even hibernation reaction. Incidences of occurrences for this disorder are more severe to individuals living further away from the equator possibly because of the intensity and length of darkness (Ingram, 2009, p. 70). In the UK for instance, SAD has been found to affect about 7% of the whole population especially the younger group in their twenties. Some studies also show that this kind of depression affects more women than men. In the United States, this depression affects 5% of the population with others in the 20% category not having sufficient symptoms to meet the diagnostic threshold for this disorder. Researchers have shown that light from the sun changes the chemicals in the brain to the extent that low amounts of vitamin D makes one susceptible to SAD and other disorders related to depression (Jacobsen et al., 1987, p. 58).