Wintertime Blues
For those of us who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) — otherwise known as the wintertime blues — the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the absolute worst time of the year. It is triggered by the shortening of daylight which decreases to a minimum on the winter solstice in late December.
Even though I know it is coming each year, I'm always surprised when it does because SAD creeps in so slowly. Before I know it I'm sleeping way too much, have little or no energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. Indeed, one day last week I slept 14 hours straight. Returning from the compost pile in the Hillside Garden required two rest stops, and my belt tells the sugar and starch story.
The greatest danger of SAD is unipolar depression. If you don't normally suffer from it, you will. And if you do, you will experience a worsening of it. Fortunately my major depression symptoms are mostly somatic in nature and the onset of SAD only makes a number of them worse.
SAD is a circadian disorder regulated by a hormone, melatonin, the production of which is controlled by exposure to light. In short, not enough light and too much melatonin, too much sleep, no energy and too much fat for winter hibernate.
So what to do? Well, the unipolar depression part is caused when too much tryptophan is converted to melatonin, leaving too little for production of serotonin. So, the use of a SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) can help keep the serotonin you have in circulation. For me that means increasing my dosage of Lexapro.
However all the symptoms can be treated by exposure to strong light to inhibit the production of melatonin and promote the production of serotonin.
So it is that I must begin sitting in front of a special lamp that produces a great deal of light on the blue end of the spectrum for thirty minutes each morning until the spring equinox.
Ain't chemistry wonderful?
Even though I know it is coming each year, I'm always surprised when it does because SAD creeps in so slowly. Before I know it I'm sleeping way too much, have little or no energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. Indeed, one day last week I slept 14 hours straight. Returning from the compost pile in the Hillside Garden required two rest stops, and my belt tells the sugar and starch story.
The greatest danger of SAD is unipolar depression. If you don't normally suffer from it, you will. And if you do, you will experience a worsening of it. Fortunately my major depression symptoms are mostly somatic in nature and the onset of SAD only makes a number of them worse.
SAD is a circadian disorder regulated by a hormone, melatonin, the production of which is controlled by exposure to light. In short, not enough light and too much melatonin, too much sleep, no energy and too much fat for winter hibernate.
So what to do? Well, the unipolar depression part is caused when too much tryptophan is converted to melatonin, leaving too little for production of serotonin. So, the use of a SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) can help keep the serotonin you have in circulation. For me that means increasing my dosage of Lexapro.
However all the symptoms can be treated by exposure to strong light to inhibit the production of melatonin and promote the production of serotonin.
So it is that I must begin sitting in front of a special lamp that produces a great deal of light on the blue end of the spectrum for thirty minutes each morning until the spring equinox.
Ain't chemistry wonderful?
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