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ANNA SMYTH, Scotsman, 6 Nov 06
THE alarm clock rings and rudely stirs you from your slumber. Turning over, you strain your eyes to see that it is indeed 7am. Time to fumble for your clothes and prepare to face the cold winter morning. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't raining, and you weren't on your way to a job that will see you glued to your desk until after the sun goes down. But you are, and it is that bad. If you feel like the sunshine is slipping from your soul, you may be experiencing the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - a form of winter depression that tends to hit around the time that the clocks are turned back in late October. It is estimated that as many as one third of Britons may suffer from SAD at some time in their life, brought on by lack of daylight during the winter months. Five per cent of those cases can suffer serious debilitation - feeling exhausted, with long bouts of depression and finding it so hard to concentrate that their work is affected - but beyond the clinical diagnosis, one in eight of sufferers will experience a feeling of lethargy and sluggishness otherwise known as the "winter blues". Symptoms may continue through until March or April. Why do short days cause long faces? The problem begins with a change in the quantity and quality of daylight, and a disruption in our body's circadian rhythm - an internal clock. It normally works like this: when light levels decrease in the evening, the brain's pineal gland begins producing melatonin, a hormone whose main function is to induce sleep. At dawn, sunlight shining into the eye triggers the pineal gland to switch off the production of melatonin, and we begin instead to secrete mood-enhancing serotonin, a chemical messenger sometimes referred to as the "happy hormone". Lowered levels of it are associated with clinical depression. And as the winter draws in, and our days get darker, this process is disturbed. "Waking in the dark, there is no sunlight to kick-start serotonin release, and so the balance of melatonin and serotonin is not restored," says a spokeswoman for the Mental Health Foundation. (MHF) "This can result in depression, irritability, loss of sex drive, and is why many people find themselves struggling to cope during winter. For some it is a very debilitating condition, while others have the same symptoms, but to a far lesser extent." There are, however, many steps which can combat the symptoms of the winter blues. GET OUTSIDE THE MHF recommends going out into the fresh air as often as possible to boost your serotonin production. "Even if it's just half an hour at lunchtime, it will make a difference," says an MHF spokeswoman. "If you work indoors, try to sit as near to a window as possible to absorb natural light." GET A LIGHTBOX If regular breaks outdoors are impractical, there are alternatives. Lightboxes have been designed to provide you with the bright light necessary to trick your body's clock, and are available from between £90-£300, depending on their intensity (go to www.outsidein.co.uk or www.detoxyourworld.com. On a summer's day, we may get up to 16 hours of daylight at 100,000 lux - lux being the unit used to measure the intensity of light. In winter, an eight-hour dull day will give less than 5,000 lux and indoor lighting rarely exceeds 500 lux. To be effective a lightbox must emit a minimum of 2,500 lux, and can go up to a maximum of 10,000 lux. Place them on the dinner table while you eat, or on your desk at work, and make sure the light hits your eyes for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. HAVE A LAUGH Ben Williams, an Edinburgh-based chartered corporate psychologist says there is a scientific basis to the notion that laughter is the best medicine: "When we laugh, the diaphragm muscle moves up and down, and massages the thymus gland which lies just underneath the breastbone. That movement stimulates the thymus to release T-cells into our blood, which carry antibodies against infection. Research has shown that this process boosts morale and is a very good antidote to SAD." TAKE A TONIC Getting the winter blues is nothing new, and Napiers Herbalists have been prescribing natural remedies for the problem since 1860. "Duncan Napier developed a 'Nerve Debility Tonic' back in the 19th century and it remains one of our bestselling remedies for boosting mood," says Dee Atkinson, a medical herbalist and the owner of Napiers in Edinburgh. "It is a mixture of 20 herbs including skullcap, Jamaica dogwood and limeflowers, as well as oats and passionflower, which are fantastic for boosting serotonin levels and lifting your mood." Available from www.napiers.net. GET MOVING Exercise is crucial to any healthy-living plan, but the added boost of natural endorphins will make a marked difference to the mood of those with SAD. Will Sturgeon, the personal trainer at The Balmoral hotel, recommends 40 minutes of outdoor exercise three times a week. Even if you're only going for a brisk walk, remember to wrap up with a breathable layer next to your skin which won't trap perspiration. "Exercise is a great way of relieving the winter blues," says Sturgeon, "as it releases endorphins, and increases the oxygenated blood in your body to support and boost the immune system. It will also increase the oxygen supply to the skin and extremities, leaving you with a glowing complexion." STOCK UP ON VITAMINS... Not only can vitamins help boost your immune system, but they have also been shown to have strong links with our mood, appetite and sex drive. The MHF recommends a diet rich in vitamins B3, B6 and C to combat depressive emotions. For vitamin B3 fill your larder with brown rice, oats, peppers and cabbage; for B6 make sure your fruit bowl is stocked with bananas. They are also a great source of tryptophan, an amino acid necessary to produce of serotonin, which can also be found in lean meats, fish, eggs and milk. Vitamin C can be found in fresh citrus fruit, strawberries, kiwi fruit and melons, so keep your fruit intake high and varied. The fruit should also give you energy and are much better than quick-fixes like white bread and sugary cereal, which fall high on the Glycaemic Index and will only provide a short-lived high. Keep on the apples, dried apricots, peaches, lentils, beans, wholewheat pasta, oats and wholegrain bread for long-lasting energy. Folic acid (vitamin B9) is also important and is added to bread and breakfast cereals. Other sources include yeast extract and leafy green vegetables such as spinach and asparagus. ...AND MINERALS It is also important to boost your magnesium levels with peanuts, pistachios and walnuts, and be sure to keep some brazil nuts and sunflower seeds handy to top up your selenium - low levels of which are associated with depression. Other good sources of selenium are oily fish such as tuna, mackerel, salmon and sardines, and walnuts, hemp oil and seeds. Although everyone loves their taste of summer sun, it is winter sun which could prove most valuable in your annual health calendar. GET AWAY FROM IT "Taking a holiday in February works wonders," says Williams, "because after Christmas and New Year, it can feel like a particularly bleak time. If possible, head somewhere with more intense sunshine, or opt for an active outdoors holiday such as skiing in the Alps. That will cover your exercise, relaxation and sunshine levels all in one go." ALL EARLY TO BED One of the contributing factors to winter depression can be interrupted or poor quality sleep - which in turn can cause irritability, low libido and general grumpiness. "Research suggests that although people with SAD tend to oversleep," says Williams, "they remain in the hypnagogic phase of sleep rather than getting to the deep REM phase which really restores our body. "Hypnagogic sleep is the twilight zone between waking and sleeping, and is often the time when people think they're falling off a cliff. It is not truly relaxing and so taking a cat nap in the afternoon may help to give that fully rested feeling." Williams also suggests that winding down properly before bed can help, so go to bed an hour earlier than normal and read under a bright light. |