2023-11-03 09:29:07
The shortening of days can take a greater toll than normal on mood and trigger, due to the reduction in hours of sunlight, seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Sadness, discouragement, drowsiness and increased appetite are some of the symptoms.
The variation in exposure to sunlight probably affects almost everyone, but for there to be a seasonal affective disorder there are a series of symptoms that must be intense and last over time, as they say. several experts in psychology and neuropsychology consulted by EFEsalud.
It is “a form” of depression, which affects approximately 1 to 10% of the population. It only occurs with the change of season, especially the cold one, with the arrival of the darkest months in the latitudes of the northern hemisphere. In fact, the further away from the Ecuador, the more likely it is to suffer from it, he points out. the clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist José Antonio Portellano.
The role of sunlight
“It usually disappears with the arrival of the brighter days, but that means that if you have started with SAD symptoms in the month of November or December, there is a period of suffering that is unnecessary. It has a lot to do with the lack of lighting, in addition to biological or genetic factors,” explains Portellano.
Sunlight has a stimulating activity in our nervous system: it helps the production of two substances that are closely related to the regulation of sleep and mood, which are melatonin and serotonin.
The decrease in the production of serotonina neurotransmitter that conditions the mood, favors sadness, melancholy, in short, the inability to enjoy the things that we previously enjoyed.
At this stage, the production of melatonin increases, a hormone produced by the brain that facilitates sleep, because there are more hours of darkness in autumn and winter than in spring or summer.
Hence, the person with the disorder is sleepier, slower, with worse mental reflexes, which trigger a slowness in the execution of their tasks.
A characteristic pattern of seasonal affective disorder
Thus, there is a “very characteristic” pattern that defines seasonal affective disorder and that is similar to that of a depressive episode: sadness, discouragement, reluctance, lack of energy, motivation, interest, he points out. the health psychologist of Active Psychology José Antonio Tamayo.
Symptoms linked to the need to sleep more hours a day – hypersomnia – as well as a “more exacerbated” appetite, especially for carbohydrates, as a form of immediate gratification, mainly sweets.
“These symptoms worsen in the months in which light activity decreases, until the onset of spring,” says Tamayo.
EFE/Miguel Gutierrez
It is normal that at some point someone feels sadder due to the change in weather, due to the decrease in sunlight hours, but that does not mean that there is a seasonal affective disorder.
“What defines it is the intensity and duration. If I have a horrible day or with the time change I am down, I am down, it can be a brief reaction, but if it manifests itself day after day and becomes chronic, it means that there we can think of there being a depression with seasonal affective disorder,” says Portellano.
You also have to make sure that this state of mind does not come from an illness that the person suffers from, or from another specific situation such as stress.
It affects women more
According to epidemiological data, seasonal affective disorder tends to affect women more than men, in fact almost twice as often, according to Tamayo.
It is also more prevalent among young people, between 20 and 35 years old, “and it seems that the incidence is decreasing with the passage of time.”
What therapies exist?
As for how to address this disorder, there are several tools.
On the one hand, with cognitive behavioral therapy which, for experts, “is the one that has proven to have the greatest scientific support for the treatment of any depressive condition.”
In this sense, Portellano affirms that in the face of seasonal affective disorder, this therapy is very important since it teaches the person behavioral patterns and develop types of thinking that make it easier for them to feel good.
On the other hand, there is medical treatment, with traditional antidepressant drugs, but also the so-called light therapy, which consists of exposure to artificial light for a certain time throughout the day.
“Another, perhaps more natural, recommendation that we can make to these patients is that they try to synchronize their daily activity with the hours of sunlight,” says Portellano.
Likewise, the neuropsychologist highlights a fourth element of medical treatment, which is vitamin D through sun exposure. “It is not the most important” but “in some way” it can contribute to the patient’s recovery.
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