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As the beautiful hot summer days draw to a close many of us start to feel an impending dread of the next season and the long dreary winter days that are yet to come.
For many of us, the fall and winter days are just another fact of life and a simple adjustment in our our daily routine and activities will usually carry us through to the longer and warmer days of spring and summer.
For many people however the oncoming fall and winter seasons marks what is for them the start of another almost unbearably depressing experience.
Seasonable depression or seasonable affective disorder affects many people.
It seems to affect women,children and adolescents more than men.
A few of the symptoms of this disorder are:
feeling sad or depressed
sleeping more than usual
increase in appetite
inability to concentrate
general lack of interest in usual activities
It may help the sufferer to know that there is a proposed reason for the cause of such feelings of depression at this time of the year.
Just knowing that it's not "all in your head " can prove somewhat of an effective therapy in itself.
Apparently our mood is determined to some degree by the amount of bright light we are exposed to throughout the day.The bright light entering our eyes is reported to increase the production of a substance called Serotonin/a neurotransmitter the lack of which is believed to cause depression.
Also during the night, a substance called Melatonin which makes us drowsy, is produced by a gland called the Pineal gland.This production of Melatonin is stopped by light entering our eyes in the morning light but in the dull days of winter the amount of light is less than that in summer and therefore the feeling of drowsiness and laziness lingers with us longer.
Since light seems to have such a dramatic effect on the way we feel it makes sense then that the most common therapy recommended for seasonal depression is light therapy.
Light therapy consists of exposing yourself to a bright light 10 to 20 times brighter than ordinary light for maybe 30 minutes a day.It isn't necessary to stare into the light as long as the light reaches your eyes while you engage in some other activity.........maybe that new hobby you decided to take up perhaps.
Besides the light therapy there are other ways that you may be able to stem the tide of depression:
try out a new hobby......tole painting etc.
try thinking about and planning for the brighter and warmer days of summer........possibly your summer vacation.
try to increase your physical activity(maybe buy a new treadmill)we all feel better about ourselves when we look great!
Make a special effort to take a walk outdoors when it's a nice sunny day.
Think positive!
The degree and severity of seasonal depression varies with the individual, and prolonged and deep depression should never be left unchecked but should be brought to the attention of a doctor.
Actually it would probably be a good idea to consult your doctor in any case and seek the advice of a medical professional.
He will most certainly be able to make some helpful suggestions and in severe cases probably recommend some form of medication.
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