Have you got the Winter Blues? Do these long nights and dreary days get to you and you find yourself with the following symptoms: • a desire to oversleep and difficulty staying awake, but in some cases, disturbed sleep and early morning wakening; • feeling fatigue and an inability to carry out normal routine; • a craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, usually resulting in weight gain; • feelings of misery, guilt and loss of self-esteem, sometimes hopelessness and despair, sometimes apathy and loss of feelings; • an irritability and desire to avoid social contact; • a tension and inability to tolerate stress; • a decreased interest in sex and physical contact • or, extremes of mood and short periods of hypomania (overactivity) in spring and autumn. You are not alone. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression which affects millions of people every winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February. SAD is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter. For many people SAD is a seriously disabling illness, preventing them from functioning normally without continuous medical treatment. For others, it is a milder condition, causing discomfort, referred to as sub-syndromal SAD or winter blues. While only recognized officially as a disorder in the past century, poets have described a sense of sorrow, loss, and lethargy that comes with the short days of autumn and winter for many centuries past. SAD can occur at any age, but often begins between the ages from 18 to 30. While relatively common throughout the northern and southern hemispheres, it is rare in those living within 30 degrees of the equator, where days are consistently long and bright. So, short of travelling to the tropics or waiting for summer to arrive, what can you do to cure the Wintertime Blues? Seek the light, of course. But not just any light. Light therapy has been shown to be effective in over 80% of cases, with exposure from 30 minutes to several hours per day to very bright light. We mean light at least 10 times the ordinary household lighting of 200 - 500 lux. The minimum therapeutic dose is 2500 lux. Some light units deliver up to 10,000 lux, which allow the shorter treatment time. While some people like to use full spectrum lighting, regular full spectrum lights will not cure SAD. Outdoor light, even on overcast days, provides as much or more light than a therapeutic light box. There has been a study indicating that SAD symptoms can improve when one takes an hour walk every day in the winter months. Daily exercise has also been shown to help, particularly when done outdoors. And we can all be glad as the days lengthen and know that Spring is soon to arrive. References: National Organization for Seasonal Affective Disorder( NOSAD ) http://www.nosad.org Winter Blues, N. Rosenthal, 1993, Guilford Press Seasonal Affective Disorder and Phototherapy, N. Rosenthal, 1989, Guilford Press Shipping Information - see Information page. Questions? Contact us anytime by e-mail: info@simmonsnaturals.com or call 707.777.1920 from 9-5 Pacific Time, Monday through Thursday. Rated a **** store. copyright 2000 - 2008 Return to top of page.