How prevalent is SAD?
According to a recent report published by the Canadian Consensus Group for the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder (please see reference section), SAD is conservatively estimated to occur in up to 3% of the Canadian population, and 1% of the US. For recent population figures, that means as many as 3 million Americans and 900,000 Canadians suffer from SAD. The number of people, however, who experience the Winter Blues is much greater. A recent estimate suggests eleven times as many people suffer from the Winter Blues as are diagnosed with SAD, and some studies indicate as much as 25% of the Canadian population experience some degree of winter doldrums. Women are at least twice as likely to have SAD as men .
