I agree. I think SAD does come in varying severity’s and I think genetic and environmental factors are the main reason for this.
I still think a person’s attitude to their condition can make a big difference to their general quality of life…but I don’t know everybody’s experiences…some may disagree.
But I think genetics is a big factor. There’s one person in the personal stories who talked about shaking hands when they were a toddler…I know I never had anything like that. I think, if you have a family history of mental illness, then you’re more likely to have either severe cases of SAD or other mental conditions such as depression thrown in there too. But there’s still a certain amount of random generation at conception, so who knows?
Also, environmental factors I reckon are stuff like if you have critical parents or any kind of traumatic childhood experience, including being bullied, that will add to the severity of your condition. Plus, I also think naturally shy people seem to end up with worse cases of SAD…I guess things like confrontations are that little bit harder for them? Maybe, I dunno.
And lastly I think SAD seems to be a lot harder to cope with in school, due to the immense amounts of peer pressure you’re forced to deal with everyday. I think, generally, once you leave school, peer pressure levels drop, and most people in your age group begin to mature a bit more and criticise less. Again, some may wanna disagree.