Feb

18

Winter Blues: Longing For Spring

Posted by maureen

February 18, 2007 |

If you are like me then you cannot wait for spring: not just for the warmer weather but also for the longer days and increase in daylight. Most people say that they feel better when the sun is shinning and that the winter months leave them feeling “blue” There are also many people who suffer from winter depression in one degree or another. So are the psychological effects of the decrease in daylight during the winter months true or imaginary?

The “winter blues “is believed to be related to seasonal changes in our exposure to daylight. A complex web of relationships between sunlight, melatonin (the sleep hormone) and serotonin (the hormone associated with wakefulness and elevated mood) influences your mood. As darkness falls, your melatonin levels naturally increase. and as the morning light emerges, melatonin levels decrease. Serotonin levels increase when you are exposed to bright light — a major reason why moods tend to be more elevated during the summer. This disruption may cause depression. For example, winter depression is more common in people living in more-northern latitudes, such as in Alaska, where the lengths of days and nights are more variable during the various seasons .

Researchers also suspect that reduced sunlight may disrupt circadian rhythms that regulate your body’s internal clock, which lets you know when it’s time to sleep and when it is time to wake up. In mans earliest years we were governed by the sun: we worked and slept according to the daylight hours and when the sun shone. Today we no longer have any restrictions on these activities and often spend long hours indoors with artificial light without having to go out into the real sunlight. Our internal biological clock however, keeps to its own schedule despite these changes in our lifestyle and everything is put out of balance.

So are these feelings inevitable? Although it may be hard to eliminate the winter blahs, there are a number of ways to help keep them at a minimum.

  • Spend time outdoors during the day and take advantage of the benefits of sunlight. The days are shorter in the winter, but you can still take advantage of what little sunlight there is. “Any exposure to sunlight will help,”
  • Exercise. Moderate exercise for at least 20 minutes every day will have a positive effect on your body and yourself. Aerobic exercise has proven to help people combat the negative feelings brought on by the winter blues. Aerobic exercise improves your mood as well as reducing stress, which is another great counter to the feelings of winter depression.
  • Eat a well balanced diet: plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • Keeping a positive attitude can make a difference too.
  • Some researchers have even concluded that exposure to summer sun may help reduce mood problems during the winter months and help avoid winter depression.

The Winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year, has already passed so keep your chin up; it only gets better from here!


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Christopher Waldrop on February 19, 2007 11:33 am

    I find it easier to get up in the mornings as the days get longer. Of course the days when it’s easiest to get up are the weekend days, when I don’t have to go to work!

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