Seasonal Affective Disorder
Winter brings that need for hot cocoa and a blanket in front of the chimney. Leafless trees and silver streets make you feel as if you were living inside an unshaken snow globe. Everything outside your window seems jeweled and time has practically stopped. You are trapped in a winter wonderland. Trapped!
Even when winter is gorgeous, there is something about not getting enough sunlight and warmth that can really put you down. A friend of mine used to say sun was the one thing that she couldn’t spare. She always compared herself to a plant. Her need for sunlight, she says, is a matter of life or death. I’ve suffered from the “flower syndrome” myself. As winter creeps in and sunlight is more and more scarce, my hair begins to lose its shine, my skin turns to a greenish white and the bags under my eyes get as purple black as they possibly can. A whithering flower, you see.
SAD – aka seasonal affective disorder – hits hard during winter but is not limited to the season. Summer also has SAD patients with different characteristics as those who suffer from winter depression. Winter SAD symptoms includes fatigue, exhaustion, lack of interest in all social activities, and sugar cravings. Some people with seasonal affective disorder even suffer from depressive and suicidal tendencies.
Turns out, my friend’s thoughts on “flower syndrome” weren’t so far off. Lack of light produces an unbalance in brain chemistry, making certain people more prone to become depressed. Without sunlight, our bodies lack the energy it provides; sunlight helps our bodies process nutrients and vitamin that without it are lost.
Treatment for this disorder includes light therapy (being exposed to sources of light, be it artificial or natural), psychological therapy and anti-depression medication. Self-medication is out of the question: alcohol abuse or other medication could negatively interact with other medical treatments you are on like generic Viagra or blood pressure medication. Any kind of substance abuse could harm your organism.
Light therapy is used to treat several mental disorders that have to do with time change and seasonal shifting. Light box therapy focuses on a given light intensity not found in regular lighting at your place. Much like a lamp though, a light box gives off a brighter, more focused beam than the light you would get by sitting outside on a grayish day.
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