HOW TO FIGHT WINTER RELATED DEPRESSION
Niru Prasad, M.D., F.A.A.P., F.A.C.E.P.
Department of Emergency Medicine
West Bloomfield Center
Henry Ford Hospital, Michigan
Department of Ambulatory Pediatrics
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
Pontiac, Michigan
How To Fight Winter Related Depressions?
There is a strong link between dark moods, lethargy, excessive weight
gain and depressions related to change of seasons especially during the
late autumn and winter.
The scientists and researchers in the past have done many
experiments in cooperation with psychiatrists to prove the facts that:
a. Millions of Americans are affected during autumn and winter with
depressions also known as seasonal effective disorder.
b. The autumn and winter brings depression, lethargy and craving for
sweets, women more than men making, them more vulnerable to gain
excessive weight further contributing to depressions.
c. An increased exposure to bright light in humans can cure these
individuals by suppressing the production of dark related
hormones called Melatonin which contributes to depression.
d. The fear of darkness, loneliness, bad weather outside due to
winter storms, makes the elderly very vulnerable to
depressions.
e. The seasonal affective disorder can affect people at any age
however, generally it begins around 20, more common in women, and
in individuals with genetic predispositions to depressions.
f. This is a transient phase of depression and has the best
prognosis due to the fact that mood starts getting better during
spring and summer.
The strong suggestions and recommendations from the major
scientists, psychiatrists who have done many research on seasonal
affective disorders are:
1. Light up your life.
Try to get as much light as possible during winter. Make your house
bright by removing drapes. Paint walls with lighter colors trim the
bushes in front of windows and use strong bulbs to light up your rooms.
2. Since women spend more time in kitchen than men, make sure kitchen
is bright with enough sunlight. The ceiling mercury lighting
fixtures contribute to bright kitchen and should be preferred as
the method of lighting kitchen if possible
3. Exercise outdoors.
You can reduce winter depressions by participating in outdoor winter
sports activity. Even an hour of morning or noon walking or jogging,
wearing proper clothes on a daily basis can reduce your depression.
4. Eat a well balanced diet.
Eating a well balanced diet with extra added carbohydrates as snack in
form of sweets can improve your mood when you are depressed. The sweet
snack should not be mixed with your major protein rich meals. The
carbohydrates change the brain chemistry by releasing chemical
serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for mood lifting. The
premenopausal women with seasonal affective disorders also have low
level of another neurotransmitter dopamine, contributing to their
depressions.
5. Get professional help.
Since major or minor depressions might also be due to organic causes
such as thyroid disorders, get complete physical check up. The
psychiatrists are using special lighting fixtures four times brighter
than household lighting under which the patient sits for a minimum of 2
to 4 hours every day to cure the depression.
6. Think positive.
Be cheerful and think positive. Sometimes going out to shopping malls
and looking at spring and summer clothes cheer up the mood. Remember,
of all kinds of depressions, this is the most benign type and is
treated easily. For most people, it will pass by spring and can be
treated successfully. For those who suffer from seasonal affective
disorders there is reward of exceptionally good summer
Remember:
April showers bring May flowers
Winter blasts bring spring joys.
Laughter is the best medicine to improve your mood when you are sad
because:
1. The heart and lungs are stimulated when you laugh.
2. The amount of oxygen in the blood is increased because of deeper
breathing.
3. The heart beats faster and blood pressure temporarily rises.
4. With laughing there is exercise of muscles of face, chest and
abdomen.
5. Following a good laughter, there is a slight drop of pulse and
blood pressure, with relaxation of skeletal muscle producing a
feeling of well being and relaxation which lasts about 45 minutes.
6. During laughing there are calories burned, approximately 80 times
more than during resting phase.
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