Lack of Light Can Make You SAD

We’re entering the fall season and shorter days. Soon the shortest, darkest day of the year December 22 will be here and has almost six fewer hours of sunlight than summer. It’s dark when we wake up, dark when we drive to work, and dark when we get home. It’s easy to go through entire days at this time of year with minimal sun exposure which is harmful to us as we age.

The festive holidays are notorious for bringing stress and sadness, Many blame seasonal depression on loneliness and remorse over loss of loved ones that intensify around the holidays. There’s really another reason and it is simply the fact that there is so little light. It’s no accident that the word light is synonymous with happiness and joy, and dark is a metaphor for evil, depression and gloom. Light and mood are intimately related, and we’re just beginning to understand why.

Serotonin is the brain’s happy “drug” and the “feel-good” neurotransmitter. Recent research has found that weather conditions and changing seasons influence the metabolism of serotonin. According to recent studies serotonin production is directly related to the duration of bright sunlight. Levels are lower on overcast days, regardless of the time of year, which explains why a string of cloudy days can make you “blue.” Serotonin activity peaks in the summer and falls to its lowest in the winter, one reason most of us are more energetic and upbeat in the summer than in the dead of winter.

A good therapy for SAD is vitamin D. Your body’s synthesis of this vital nutrient is dependent on adequate sunlight exposure, and in the northern U.S. and Canada, production literally ceases during winter. Although your liver stores vitamin D, deficiencies are common at this time of year. Vitamin D is best known for its effects on calcium metabolism and bone density. However, it is active throughout the body, including the brain and the central nervous system, and in clinical trials of patients with SAD, supplemental vitamin D has resulted in significant improvements in depression.

Even if you don’t suffer with depression, SAD or other, vitamin D supplements and hefty doses of light will do you a world of good. If you can’t fly south for the winter, use full-spectrum fluorescent lights in your home and office. They don’t have the intensity of the light boxes used for SAD, but dozens of studies have shown that compared to regular tubes and bulbs, full-spectrum lights relieve eyestrain, brighten mood, and improve other aspects of health.

Some people are particularly depressed by light deprivation. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that occurs only in winter. It is accompanied by longer sleep, increased appetite, and carbohydrate cravings, often with weight gain. It resolves in the spring or summer and then recurs as shorter days set in. SAD, which is more common in northern latitudes, affects up to five percent of the population and twice as many women as men.

There are a few accepted treatments for SAD. One is SSRIs or serotonin-altering antidepressants know as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil etc. Many Doctors hand these drugs out like candy at any hint of depression. This may sound good but it’s really bad news and unnecessary since other safe, effective therapies exist.

Common side effects of SSRI drugs include loss of libido, headache, poor appetite, and nausea. Less common but more serious effects are emotional detachment, severe agitation, uncharacteristic aggression and violence, and suicidal thoughts.

The best treatment for SAD is light therapy. Sitting near a “light box” fitted with special fluorescent bulbs that emit bright, full-spectrum light, containing a broad range of wavelengths of light, for 30 minutes a day has been shown to raise serotonin levels, improve mood, and normalize sleep patterns and appetite. As a matter of fact, light therapy is so helpful that that anyone suffering with depression should try it even if it is not a seasonal depression. . It is a much safer and natural way of raising mood-enhancing serotonin levels than drugs.
An Emerging Therapy

Recommendations:
• If you suffer with SAD or any type of depression, give a light a try. An excellent source is: “Verilux’s Happy Lite Junior.
Also, take daily doses of vitamin D – 400 units to 1000 units.