|
 About
Your Mood Mood
& Seasonal Affective Disorder
 Winter
Blues Relieved By Light
As the days grow shorter, many people
encounter the "winter blues" - lethargy, gloom,
craving sweet and/or starchy foods, difficulty getting up
in the morning. People who suffer from Seasonal Affective
Disorder (SAD), experience this acutely. For an estimated
10.8 million North Americans, the urge to "hibernate"
makes it impossible to function normally.
They may increase their sleep by several
hours, gain many pounds, feel sluggish and asocial. Women
with SAD often suffer a worsening of premenstrual symptoms.
However, all these troubles are relieved with the coming
of longer days, and more light.
For treatment, a medical professional
at the Winter Depression Program at the New York Psychiatric
Institute said that, "current evidence strongly favors
exposure to bright light in the morning." This is known
as Light Therapy - exposure to intense levels of light under
controlled conditions.
He cautions that it is difficult to quantify
success rates across studies that have used different intensities
and durations of light, but, estimates that "about
80% of people with simple winter depression show significant
benefit from Light Therapy - almost 50% [of sufferers] experience
complete remission."
The most common form of treatment is
via a light fixture that gives off bright, diffused light.
The individual sits in front of this light box, which contains
broad-spectrum florescent lamps behind a diffusing screen,
for a session of 15 minutes to one hour, once or twice a
day. One need not look directly at the light, but read,
write, eat, or carry on other activities while facing the
light fixture.
 This treatment has few, if any, side
effects, and those often abate on their own. These are usually
mitigated by adjusting the duration, intensity, and/or time
of day of treatment. Light therapy has been in use since
the mid-80s and there are no known side effects to long-term
use.
According to the Center for Environmental
Therapeutics, Inc., there are measures you can start before
winter, to help prevent these doldrums:
- Get outdoors for at least 30
minutes during the day; increase the general light level
indoors
- Eat complex carbohydrates (whole
grains) instead of foods with simple sugars (sweets, refined
grains)
- Avoid dehydration by drinking
water
- Exercise outdoors if possible
- Monitor your moods to be aware
of patterns that may connect to the seasons, medications,
and/or changes in diet
- And be gracious to yourself.
Source: The National Foundation for
Depressive Illness, Inc.
|
