A follow up study of seasonality in affective disorders: A preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Researchers have evinced interest in the effect of seasonality on certain behavioural and emotional disorders, the most prominent being Affective Disorders. AIM: To assess the pattern of seasonality and the clinical course in cases of affective disorder in a tertiary care psychiatric centre in North India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients diagnosed as cases of affective disorder as per ICD- 10 DCR (F30-39) were re-assessed using seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire (SPAQ) after a period of 5-7 years. RESULTS: Majority of the patients (53.8%) were males. Recurrent depressive disorder current episode moderate with/without somatic syndrome was the commonest current diagnosis as per ICD-10 DCR. Mean global seasonality score was 3.46 (S.D, 6.55; range 1-24) as assessed by SPAQ. Most of the patients did not report any variation in mood, behaviour, sleep pattern and weight fluctuations. CONCLUSIONS: It has been demonstrated that manifestation of an affective disorder is not necessarily associated with high seasonality change.