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Seasonal Depression, Causes and Solutions

We live in a world of interdependence. It is the world where the entire universe, both living, and non-living things affect one another in particular ways. During the day, everyone feels happy and alert with an ability to work and happy. But when night comes, that energy we have during the day suddenly drops and soon we feel like sleeping. Therefore, the weather has a way of affecting our general state of being from time to time.

Seasonal depression also known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) relates to how changes in seasons affect our moods and minds. Changes in seasons are associated with how different people behave from time to time about their environment. It has a way of affecting people’s mental health at different times of the year. Some people who usually enjoy sound mental health would suddenly slip into depression during winter or summer respectively. Therefore, seasonal depression is the change in the happy mood of affected persons according to seasons. Usually, seasonal depression often occurs during the cold months, starting in the fall through to winter months every year.

Symptoms of seasonal depression

Seasonal depression is sometimes called “winter depression” due to its apparent prevalence in the months of winter, but the symptoms usually begin in autumn, which last until spring and summer in different sufferers.

Below are common symptoms associated with SAD:

Causes of Seasonal Depression

The causes of SAD are unknown, but it might not be unconnected with hormonal activities in the brain, responsible for triggering attitude related changes in people at such times of the year when there is change in weather.

Change in weather effects of sunlight, which causes a reduction in animal activities. During autumn and winter months, the weather changes significantly making the general atmosphere look dull and uninspiring. The human’s biological clock, which makes us react to light variation perhaps triggers a night mode feeling and causing a shift of consciousness towards sleeping.

When there is lack of sunlight, the part of the brain called hypothalamus might stop working properly and may trigger the following actions:

Although these are theory of the causes of SAD, but looking at it from the way we normally feel whenever we are sleepy or during nightfall, we can take solace in the attempt of the theory to explain causes for SAD.

Can seasonal depression be treated?

Yes. There are different treatments for SAD depending on the severity of your case. You need to see your doctor or a GP determine the severity and recommend an appropriate remedy.

When to see your doctor

You should consider seeing your doctor when you noticed any of the aforementioned symptoms. Your doctor will carry out necessary assessments to affirm the presence and severity of SAD. After that, he would recommend likely treatment.

Treatments for SAD

There are different treatments for seasonal depression according to individual cases. These treatments range from psychological to behavioral, stress management as well as medication using antidepressants. Also, there are simple home remedies to help you against SAD. Let’s consider a few here.

Seasonal depression is a condition that develops due to changes in weather. To maintain a sound state of mental health during the cold season, you have to adjust your activities to counter the general state of inactivity of the period. Getting more information and following on workable recommendations will help you to remain mentally healthy all year round.

Author
Rose Medical

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