Winter usually acts depressing
For more than six percent of the population snow, snowman skating and not launch a winter wonderland, and the gloomy mood that can only get better with the arrival of spring. Seasonal emotional disorder (SEDs) is a form of clinical depression with atypical symptoms – increased feelings of fatigue, increased appetite, irritability, feelings of hopelessness, lethargy and lack of interest in doing everyday activities. Symptoms are exacerbated in December and continue until late spring, summer fade and come back again in winter. Seasonal depression is different from typical depression that depends on the calendar. Also – unlike the standard form – patients with SEDs tend to be sleeping and suicide, not troubled. This condition affects mostly young people and women of childbearing age, though it is not clear why. SEDs with women than men by a ratio 4:1 SEDs. The SEDs rarely occurs in women at menopause, which allows the specialists to believe that hormonal changes play a role in pathophysiology. Although physicians have an understanding of the characteristics of SEDs, yet little is known how and why these features occur. Biology is still unknown,” said Dr. Douglas Jacobs, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard. He says the leading theory on the problem, whereby the reduction of sunlight in winter, probably affect the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin.
Lack of sunlight reduces the levels of serotonin and melatonin levels increased. Increased levels of melatonin affects sleep cycles, and reduced serotonin contributes to depressive symptoms. Patients with SEDs not only react to the lack of sunlight, but not influenced by artificial light in their homes and offices. Treatment of SEDs include light therapy, in which light is tens of times brighter than in living conditions. This therapy is effective because the light is perceived by the eye, sending a signal to the brain and also causes chemical changes. While experimenting experts and other methods for the treatment of SEDs, which include cognitive and medical therapy.
Tags: depressing, homes, offices, population snow, Seasonal emotional disorder, SEDs, symptoms, Winter