SAD
Who likes waking up in the dark ? No one it seems, humans and animals both share a common trait in that they react differently to the changing seasons. People tend to both eat more and sleep more in the winter, the small days and dark mornings can lead to what we know as “winter blues” – there is a more severe form of this which produces symptoms serious enough to adversely affect someones life, this is known as SAD or Seasonally Affective Disorder
What effect does SAD have ?
SAD often first starts to appear around September, as the nights start to draw in and goes through to April – Symptoms are worse during the darkest months of the year.
Sympotms can include the following
- Problems sleeping, tiredness in the afternoons, waking without feeling refreshed, sleeping too long
- Weight gain due to overeating. This comes from cravings for carbohydrates
- Difficulty in operating normally due to depression, with feelings of misery, anxiety and guilt
- Loss of sex drive, irritability and lethargy
- Joint pain, and increased exposure to infections
- behavioural problems
Who is affected ?
A lot of people. Around 10% of the population of Northern Europe summer a mild form (the blues) and around 2% suffer the more severe SAD. It affects women more than men, and children can also be affected.
The Causes
Our brains are affected by sunlight, during the winter there is less sunlight (and less bright sunlight in particular) and this can affect the chemistry of your brain. It’s not yet known what makes some people more succeptible than others.
Our moods and natural rhythms are stimulated by the light enetering the eye – melatonin is produced as it gets dark, which tells our bodies to slow down as night is approaching. On days when there is small light, melatonin is produced too early in the day amking us more tired. in the same way, melatonin is still being produced in the morning making it hard to wake up.
How can we treat SAD ?
Simply by being in the light every day, it’s simple if you live somewhere where it’s sunny all the time – but Northern Europe usually feels like it’ll never be sunny again! As an alternative, you can use a bright artificial light. Preferably it should be as bright as a morning in the spring on a clear day – often as small as 30 minutes a day in front of a light this bright can alleviate symptoms. You just have to be near the light, you don’t need to be looking at it.
This needs to be a specific type of light, at least 2500lux – about 5 times as bright as a normal well lit office. the brighter the light, the further away you can sit and the less time you need.
