Why we really are sad when weather's bad

[Guest guest]

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By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor

Tuesday, 2 September 2008

 

 

As summer ends - what summer? - and the nights draw in, many people returning to

work after the holidays have nothing to look forward to but a long winter of the

soul.

 

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - the decline in mood and energy that

accompanies the gloomy days and long nights - affects thousands but is still

unexplained. Now scientists have identified changes in the brain that occur with

the seasons which could explain the origins of the disorder and the mood

fluctuations to which it gives rise.

 

Brain scans taken at different times of year have revealed variations in the

concentration of a protein responsible for transporting the brain chemical

serotonin between cells.

 

They show that serotonin levels were higher in spring and summer and lower in

autumn and winter. When the findings were compared with meteorological data,

they found the levels were lowest on days when there was least sunlight.

 

The findings, published in Archives of General Psychiatry, confirm that sunshine

equals happiness. People who live in sunnier climes are more outgoing and

optimistic than their northern cousins. It is no surprise that the best-known

image of despair - Munch's The Scream - was painted in Oslo. The more northerly

the latitude the greater the unhappiness. SAD is said to be unknown in people

living within 30 degrees of the equator.

 

The authors from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose findings appear in the journal, said: " It is a

common experience in temperate zones that individuals feel happier and more

energetic on sunny days and many experience a decline in mood and energy during

the dark, winter season. "

 

Serotonin is known to be involved in regulating functions including mating,

feeding, energy balance and sleep. It is cleared from the spaces between the

cells by a protein to which it binds, known as a serotonin transporter.

 

Brain scans of 88 individuals taken over a period of four years between 1999 and

2003 showed the levels of the protein transporter varied according to the time

of year. They were higher in the autumn and winter (and hence free circulating

serotonin was lower) and lower in spring and summer (when free, unbound

serotonin was higher).

 

" The higher the binding potential value, the less serotonin circulates in the

brain. Higher values in fall and winter may explain ... symptoms such as lack of

energy, fatigue, over-eating and increased duration of sleep, " the researchers

write.

 

" These findings have important implications for understanding seasonal mood

changes in healthy individuals [and] ... offers a possible explanation for the

regular recurrence of depressive episodes in fall and winter in some vulnerable

individuals. "

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Why not light therapy Courti, a good 10,000 lux " sad " light is a suitable

therapy for seasonal affective disorder, and one can position the lamp adjacent

to the computer screen and reap the rewards whilst on-line etc ... For the

supplement route, you could research 5-HTP and/or Vitamin D, Omega-3 etc., etc

.... We in Britain have not had a summer this year at all due to the jet/gulf

stream being too low as regards to the British Isles so we are all feeling low

and grumpy - lack of Serotonin you see! When I lived in The Canary Islands off

the coast of N.W, Africa, which has a climate somewhat similar to your Florida

(minus the storms) and California I used to feel like a $1000,000 ... I'll never

forget the Scandinavian who once said to me in Tenerife (Canary Islands) " ya

can't live in the Northern Hemisphere come winter " !

 

Posted by: " Courti " auntiecody auntiecody

Wed Sep 3, 2008 3:13 pm (

>>>This I have known for years but is any any other help other thatn light

therapy?<<<

 

 

 

 

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