Lack of sun inside or depression. How lack of sun affects a person's emotional state

Text: Tatyana Maratova

Autumn depression is a seasonal affective disorder that usually occurs in people at the beginning of autumn, lasts until the end of the first winter month, and usually subsides, returning to the streets good weather.

What is autumn? This is depression! But not for everyone...

Autumn depression affects 4 to 5% of the population globe. Autumn depression is characterized by a set of psychosomatic disorders and occurs more often with women than with men, especially with those who are in age limit from 40 to 55 years. This type of mental disorder doesn't just happen to adults - 1.7 to 5% of children over the age of 9 may also suffer from autumn depression. Autumn depression usually lasts longer for people living in northern countries, that is, countries with shorter daylight hours.

Symptoms autumn depression usually begin with a lack of interest in life and others, with a lack of desire to engage in any activity. This is usually accompanied by insomnia. And sometimes it happens the other way around - a person who experiences autumn depression begins to sleep for a very long time.

Other symptoms of autumn depression may include problems concentrating, decreased sexual activity and even indigestion - a person either starts eating every hour or has complete absence appetite.

Melatonin, serotonin, dopamine

The main causes of autumn depression are considered to be the following: firstly, an increase in melatonin levels. An increase in the amount of this hormone in the body occurs as a result of a decrease in the amount of daylight. It is this factor, doctors believe, that is responsible for the lack of interest in activities or the increased need to sleep for many hours a day. Increased melatonin entails a decrease in serotonin levels - and this hormone plays a serious role in regulating mood and the sleep-wake cycle. All other things being equal, if the level of serotonin in the body is normal, a person has a balanced emotional background, good mood And healthy sleep.

Finally, the third cause of autumn depression may be a decrease in dopamine levels. This is another hormone whose level depends on the intensity sunlight. Decreased dopamine levels are usually the main cause of loss of attention and lack of interest in life.

During the fall and winter months, some people begin to experience symptoms seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder.

Symptoms

Symptoms of seasonal depression usually appear when it gets cold and there is almost no sunny days- late autumn or winter. They can be mild or moderate, and sometimes depression takes over severe form. U office workers who spend long hours indoors, signs of seasonal depression may be observed all year round. Some people notice mood changes when cloudy weather sets in for a long time.

Here are the most common symptoms of seasonal depression:

Increased fatigue
Lack of interest in daily activities
Closedness
Need for foods rich in carbohydrates
Increase in body weight.

To diagnose seasonal depression, one of the above symptoms is sufficient. For example, a person may remain as energetic as always, but start consuming carbohydrates at a huge quantities. And some people experience the exact opposite symptoms, such as weight loss instead of weight gain. IN in rare cases Annual relapses of depression occur not in autumn and winter, but in summer. Perhaps it's all about the heat and high humidity. At this time of year, seasonal affective disorder most often manifests itself as insomnia, loss of appetite, restlessness, or anxiety.

Causes

Seasonal depression is associated with a biochemical imbalance in the brain as a result of reduced daylight hours and lack of sunlight. It is well known that the seasonal light cycle influences animal activity. It is possible that seasonal depression is a manifestation of the influence of the light cycle on a person. As the seasons change, our internal The biological clock, daily biorhythms. This is what causes seasonal depression.

In addition, the causes of seasonal depression are associated with the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Its level increases in dark time days. As the days get shorter and darker, more melatonin is produced. Scientific research show that bright light changes biochemical processes in the brain. However, what kind of disorders occur in people suffering from seasonal depression is still unknown. Only one thing is clear: the further a person lives from the equator, the greater the risk of seasonal depression. The most difficult months for those suffering from this disorder are January and February. If we talk about the age at which seasonal depression usually occurs, this is the period from 18 to 30 years.

Treatment

Seasonal Depression Symptoms May Ease long stay in the sun. It is also recommended to take long walks or arrange your home or office to be in the sun during the day. If the symptoms are so severe that they impair the quality of life, light therapy (phototherapy) - exposure to bright light for 30-90 minutes a day - can help. Improvement occurs faster if phototherapy is combined with psychotherapy. Some patients are also prescribed antidepressants.

If you suspect seasonal depression, you should definitely consult a doctor. Symptoms of seasonal depression resemble hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, infectious mononucleosis and others viral infections, so a thorough examination is necessary. Sometimes seasonal depression is mistaken for clinical (major) depression or bipolar disorder.

If you are severely depressed or have thoughts of suicide, you should consult a doctor immediately. Put accurate diagnosis and a psychiatrist can determine exactly how to help the patient.

IN in this case two different mental states, which can even be called diseases. The first is seasonal affective disorder (SAD, from English SAD – seasonal affective disorder), caused by a lack of sunlight. It affects 10 % of the inhabitants of temperate latitudes of the globe. The second is holiday depression, also known as weekend depression, its causes are loneliness and unfulfilled hopes. SIR calls various symptoms– from simple sadness to severe depression with sleep disorders, increased anxiety, unexplained mood swings, overeating, loss of libido and even lethargy. There is even evidence that SER is transmitted as a contagious disease.

Depression: what happens under the crust

The nature of this disease is not fully explained, but it is believed that it is associated with a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus (subthalamus), an area of the brain responsible for mood, appetite and sleep. Scientists believe that seasonal affective disorder is caused by a lack of sunlight. The light-sensitive pineal gland, located in the cerebral cortex, receives light energy through optic nerve and produces the hormone melatonin, which affects internal biological rhythm and plays a significant role in coordinating the work of the glands internal secretion. The less light that reaches the pineal gland, the more melatonin it produces. And he, in turn, suppresses the speed biochemical reactions, lowers body temperature - a person tends to sleep, lethargy and fatigue set in.

The hormone serotonin, produced by the cerebral cortex, also affects emotional condition human and is responsible for the instinct of self-preservation inherent in all living beings. A decrease in its level provokes fears. That is why in the dark a person becomes overwhelmed with anxiety and a feeling of insecurity. Excessive levels of serotonin lead to overexcitation and aggressiveness. Serotonin is also responsible for the feeling of hunger. People susceptible to EDS experience a particularly acute decline in seasonal serotonin levels.

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Just Turn on the Lights!

Ways to prevent SER are simple. First of all, light the room as much as possible. Try to allow enough daylight to penetrate into your room, and turn on all the lamps in the evenings. A daily one-hour walk during the day helps overcome the problem.

Some doctors advise people suffering from EDS to go to a solarium. But this does not help many, and they are prescribed antidepressants. Effective treatment for 90 % it is light therapy: a charge of bright light with waves of a certain length is supplied from a special device (laser, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamp).

Experts believe that the procedure changes the biochemical balance of the brain, increasing serotonin levels and reducing melatonin production. Some fitness centers have special light booths, the brightness of the light in each of which is four times higher than that provided by conventional sources.

Communicating with optimists and thinking that summer and sunshine are just around the corner help to overcome SIR very effectively!

Depression on weekends

The situation is different with weekend illness or holiday depression. Studies have shown that about 3% of people feel weak on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, muscle pain, nausea and even cold symptoms. The majority explained their condition by stress arising from the difficulty of psychologically switching to rest. Moreover, the more responsible and intense the work, the harder the person endures the weekend.

Relaxation is difficult and even causes stress. Holidays become a problem for many due to the need to “re-establish” relationships with loved ones. The immune system cannot always cope with such loads. Holiday depression is stress from expectations, the need to buy gifts, spend money, remember those who are no longer with us, sum up results that, alas, are not always comforting, etc. It is possible that the real reason holiday depression in our attitude towards the holiday. We expect miracles, desires to come true, changes for the better, but dreams do not come true, bitter disappointment comes and does not leave us for some time.

The easiest way to combat holiday depression is to load yourself with work or entertainment, depending on personal preferences and vital needs. Time will fly by quickly, the holidays will pass, you will go to work again - life will flow as usual. But know: on the next holiday or weekend, sadness will come again.

The second way to overcome holiday depression is more difficult: take a piece of paper and write down on it what you expected from the last holiday. It could be a holiday or just a day off. Then mark those that came true. Having found unfulfilled desires, make a plan on how to fulfill them without connecting them to dates, and start taking action.

It is a fact

If you don't have any seasonal emotional disorder, nor holiday depression - do not rush to rejoice. You may be susceptible to the weekday syndrome that affects half the world's population. It is characterized by the inability to quickly move from a festive mood to solving everyday problems and can develop into a serious psychological illness. It is more difficult for men to adapt to gray everyday life. Instead of plunging into the whirlpool of everyday life, they fall into melancholy.

The New Year holidays, which we have been waiting for so long and with such impatience, have already passed. Now many people have tuned in to the same impatient and anxious anticipation of warm days. However, there are still two months of cold weather ahead, which means it’s too early to say goodbye to winter. Moreover: we have to go through the most difficult, cold and boring period of the season.

A deficiency of vitamins and sunlight makes itself felt, and that’s all more people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD, seasonal depression, winter depression). This condition does not have the best effect on our mood, well-being and sleep. This violation and will be the topic of this post. So: how to overcome the symptoms of SAD?

Ancient documents dating back to the 6th century AD indicate that the inhabitants of Scandinavia suffered from a certain illness, the symptoms of which resembled seasonal depression. However, she officially appeared in medical documents recently - was described in 1984. Seasonal affective disorder has been found to be more common in women.

As the name suggests, winter depression occurs during the cold season. The main reason its appearance is a lack of sunlight associated with shortening daylight hours.

The mechanism of development of seasonal depression is as follows. When a person spends most of the day in low light conditions, his body produces the sleep hormone melatonin from the amino acid tryptophan. It has a calming effect, prepares the body for rest, initiates sleep and maintains sleep. Due to the fact that from autumn to spring the production of melatonin increases not only at night, but also during the day, many people constantly complain that throughout the cold season, and especially in winter, they want to sleep at any time of the day.

In addition, when there is a lot of melatonin in the body, the production of another biological active substance, serotonin, also formed on the basis of tryptophan molecules. Serotonin is also called the hormone of happiness. In order for it to be synthesized in sufficient quantities, it is necessary for a person to be exposed to more light, because when illuminated, the production of the sleep hormone is blocked, which “interferes” with the synthesis of the hormone of happiness.

In autumn and winter, the days are short and natural light is replaced by artificial light. As a result, along with a lack of sunlight, many people experience a noticeable lack of joy. Winter depression develops.

Seasonal affective disorder can be expressed in varying degrees. In most cases, they talk about subSAD, or subdepression - cases when the signs of the disorder are quite weak. However, there are cases when, due to seasonal changes in mood, patients even have to be admitted to the hospital.

Signs of fall and winter depression are listed below. They do not necessarily occur all together; they can be observed separately or randomly combined with each other. Their appearance, as a rule, occurs in late autumn and early winter.

Symptoms of winter depression are more pronounced if a person does not leave the house, as well as on days when it is cloudy, snowing or raining. On the contrary, if it is sunny and the patient spends part of the day in the air, he feels better. I wonder what after New Year's holidays The condition of patients also sometimes improves. And the point is not so much in the general Christmas tree-gift-relaxed state, but in the fact that people are more often at fresh air and, accordingly, are more exposed to sunlight. In addition, daylight hours from December 21 to January 10 increase by 25 minutes.

We have figured out the essence of the phenomenon called winter depression. Let's move on to how to get rid of it. Listed below are ways to help combat this condition.

Light therapy. It was and remains the main and most in an effective way therapy for seasonal depression. A number of studies have shown that it is comparable in effectiveness to taking strong antidepressants. Moreover, she is absolutely devoid side effects and contraindications, and a light therapy device can be purchased anywhere.

Light therapy is performed at home. Ordinary incandescent light bulbs are not suitable for this - you need to use special light therapy lamps or light boxes that emit bright light, similar in its characteristics to natural light (5 - 10 thousand lux, blue spectrum).

Use of the light therapy machine should be repeated daily and should take about an hour per day. It is optimal if it is carried out in the first half of the day. The treatment does not distract the patient from his work: next to the light therapy lamp or light box one can read, sit at the computer, or work. True, it is worth observing some mandatory conditions.

The light should not shine on the top or back of the head, but on the retina, because it is its effect on the organs of vision that triggers the reaction of suppressing the synthesis of melatonin. Thus, the lamp should be placed at a distance of no more than a meter from a person and no more than 30 degrees from the axis of vision.

The effect of such treatment becomes noticeable from the first days: daytime sleepiness decreases, the quality of night sleep improves, and mood improves.

IN Lately began producing LED lamps, the use of which can halve the duration of light therapy sessions at home.

Imitation of dawn. It can be used as an option for light therapy, or better yet, in conjunction with “regular” light therapy. There are special alarm clocks. By a certain time for which awakening is planned, they flare up in full force and awaken a person with their light.

The use of such alarm clocks is very useful. In autumn and winter, we wake up in the dark, so the moment of awakening is not accompanied by inhibition of melatonin secretion. Because of this, the production of the joy hormone decreases throughout the day, and we are worried about lethargy, apathy, and daytime sleepiness. Alarm clocks change their work from the first seconds of wakefulness hormonal system so that the release of the sleep hormone stops.

“The leaves are falling, the leaves are falling.

The wind groans, long and dull.

Who will make my heart happy?

Who will calm him down, my friend?

Did you know that many of Sergei Yesenin's poems indicate his tendency towards seasonal affective disorder? Moreover, melancholy moods are especially clearly visible in poems written in the fall. According to one version, severe depression also caused his suicide in the winter of 1925...

Seasonal affective disorder is usually not so severe that sufferers have suicidal thoughts. However, a monotonous existence in a swamp of apathy and joylessness brings little pleasure.

If you suffer from winter depression, follow the tips above. A few weeks and you'll be back to full life, you will feel interest in her and feel spring in your soul!