{"id":120362,"date":"2024-10-31T07:43:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T00:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120362"},"modified":"2024-10-31T07:43:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T00:43:50","slug":"winter-depression-is-real-and-there-are-many-ways-to-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120362","title":{"rendered":"Winter depression is real and there are many ways to fight back"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/time-change-fall-back-spring-forward-sleep-251e55ce23d25a490783a996915dbc22\">winter approaches and daylight hours grow shorter<\/a><\/span>, people prone to seasonal depression can feel it in their bodies and brains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a feeling of panic, fear, anxiety and dread all in one,\u201d said Germaine Pataki, 63, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. <\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s among the millions of people estimated to have seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Her coping strategies include yoga, walking and an antidepressant medication. She\u2019s also part of a Facebook group for people with SAD. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI try to focus on helping others through it,\u201d Pataki said. \u201cThis gives me purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>People with SAD typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. Changing the clocks back to standard time, which happens this weekend, can be a trigger for SAD. A milder form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical experts, and there\u2019s also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.<\/p>\n<p>In 1984, a team led by Dr. Norman Rosenthal, then a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, first described SAD and coined the term. \u201cI believe that because it is easy to remember, the acronym has stuck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>What causes seasonal affective disorder?<\/h2>\n<p>Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. <\/p>\n<p>Sunlight is loaded with the blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains\u2019 alertness centers are activated and we feel more wakeful and possibly even happier.<\/p>\n<p>Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the winter, when the light levels drop, that combined with a lower sensitivity, might be too low for healthy functioning, leading to depression,\u201d Roecklein said.<\/p>\n<p>Miriam Cherry, 50, of Larchmont, New York, said she spent the summer planning how she would deal with her winter depression. \u201cIt\u2019s like clockwork,\u201d Cherry said. \u201cThe sunlight is low. The day ends at 4:45, and suddenly my mood is horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Does light therapy help?<\/h2>\n<p>Many people with SAD respond to light therapy, said Dr. Paul Desan of Yale University\u2019s Winter Depression Research Clinic. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first thing to try is light,\u201d Desan said. \u201cWhen we get patients on exposure to bright light for a half an hour or so every morning, the majority of patients get dramatically better. We don\u2019t even need medications.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The therapy involves devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light. <\/p>\n<p>Research supports using a light that\u2019s about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness. You need to use it for 30 minutes every morning, according to the research. Desan said this can help not only people with SAD but also those with less-severe winter blahs.<\/p>\n<p>Special lights run from $70 to $400. Some products marketed for SAD are too dim to do much good, Desan said. <\/p>\n<p>Yale has tested products and offers <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/medicine.yale.edu\/psychiatry\/research\/programs\/clinical_people\/winter\/obtain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a list of recommendations<\/a><\/span>, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/cet.org\/how-to-select-a-light-box\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a consumer guide<\/a><\/span> to selecting a light. <\/p>\n<p>If your doctor diagnosed you with SAD, check with your insurance company to see if the cost of a light might be covered, Desan suggested.<\/p>\n<h2>What about talk therapy or medication?<\/h2>\n<p>Antidepressant medications are a first-line treatment for SAD, along with light therapy. Doctors also recommend keeping a regular sleep schedule and walking outside, even on cloudy days.<\/p>\n<p>Light therapy\u2019s benefits can fade when people stop using it. One type of talk therapy \u2014 cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT \u2014 has been shown in studies to have more durable effects, University of Vermont researcher Kelly Rohan said. <\/p>\n<p>CBT involves working with a therapist to identify and modify unhelpful thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA very common thought that people have is \u2018I hate winter,\u2019\u201d Rohan said. \u201cReframe that into something as simple is \u2018I prefer summer to winter,\u2019\u201d she suggested. \u201cIt\u2019s a factual statement, but it has a neutral effect on mood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working with a therapist can help people take small steps toward having fun again, Rohan said. Try planning undemanding but enjoyable activities to break out of hibernation mode, which \u201ccould be as simple as meeting a friend for coffee,\u201d Rohan said.<\/p>\n<h2>What else might work?<\/h2>\n<p>People with SAD have half the year to create coping strategies, and some have found hacks that work for them \u2014 though there may be scant scientific support.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth Wescott, 69, of Folsom, California, believes contrast showers help her. It\u2019s a water therapy borrowed from sports medicine that involves alternating hot and cold water while taking a shower. She also uses a light box and takes an antidepressant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m always looking for new tools,\u201d Wescott said.<\/p>\n<p>Cherry in New York is devoting a corner of her garden to the earliest blooming flowers: snowdrops, winter aconite and hellebores. These bloom as early as February.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a sign to me that this isn\u2019t going to last forever,\u201d Cherry said. \u201cIt will get better, and spring is on its way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-depression-winter-370fdaf388a65e5b31400f61d97d0575\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As winter approaches and daylight hours grow shorter, people prone to seasonal depression can feel it in their bodies and brains. \u201cIt\u2019s a feeling of panic, fear, anxiety and dread &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120362\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}