Fight The Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Published: 02nd February 2011

Views: N/A

Happy New Year! I hope you had an enjoyable holiday and had plenty of fun and laughter with friends and family.
Although the holiday is usually filled with joy and sparkling lights, but for some it can be a very dark time too.
With the changing of the clocks and having less sunshine in the winter months, some are affected by this seasonal
difference. The range of intensity can be very mild for some and for others it can be quite debilitating. Feeling the "blahs" or the "blues" is sometimes over looked and brushed off as just a human "weakness". Many times we fall short of admitting that we need some kind of help or even recognizing that what we are feeling is a mild form of "depression". The mind-body connection cannot be disputed and over time our "blahs" can have a huge impact on the rest of our health as well as our daily activities and personal relationships. Here are some things to consider if you are experiencing the winter blues. It is still important to seek guidance from a trained health care professional. Know that you are not alone or helpless.

FIGHT THE SAD

Waking up early ( when the sun rises) so that you are getting as much sunlight as possible and doing it on a consistent basis. This also means getting enough sleep and not cutting your sleeping hours.

Go out for walks during lunch ( this will be a challenge on the colder days but you will feel great with the extra light)

Make your home SUN friendly - although it is important to sleep in darkness, it is also important that you open up the blinds when you do get up.

Physical Therapies : bright light therapy, dawn therapy, negative ion therapy

Supplementation of Vitamin D ( 1000 IU - 5000 IU/day), St. John' Wort ( lots of contraindications if on other meds), Omega -3 fatty acids (1 -2 g/day of EPA) and other natural remedies are useful but you should have a health care practitioner make recommendations base on your individual health history.