Leo Sher
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Comorbidity of Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 198 pages.

Seasonal affective disorder is a condition where depressions in fall and winter alternate with nondepressed periods in the spring and summer. The degree to which seasonal changes affect mood, energy, sleep, appetite, food preference, or the wish to socialize with other people has been called seasonality. Seasonal changes in mood and behavior may be related to alcoholism. Some patients with alcoholism have a seasonal pattern to their alcohol misuse. They may be self-medicating an underlying seasonal affective disorder with alcohol or manifesting a seasonal pattern to alcohol-induced depression.