Experts of Dr. Sharda Ayurveda and other well-known hospitals confirmed that depression cases are higher during late fall and early winter season and there exists a strong relationship between winter and depression.
Digging into the matter, the article contains several significant insights about winter depression, its causes, symptoms, its impact on mental health, and natural ways to manage depression.
Winter Depression
Winter Depression, also known as SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) is a specific type of depression that is more common during the winter season. Every year, countless individuals experience it in both manner- mild and intense.
Several remedies and therapies are available out there that claim to cure this mental disorder. However, out of all the ways available Ayurvedic treatment for depression is a novel way through which countless patients have fought against depression and regained their mental health naturally.
Causes of Winter Depression?
The most common reason behind the development of winter depression seasonal affective disorder is shorter days and less daylight. These circumstances stimulate the functioning of the brain via a chemical reaction. Following such a chemical reaction, the brain results in depression-like symptoms.
Symptoms of Winter Depression?
If anyone is interested in knowing- what are signs and symptoms of depression in winter, then let us tell you that they are no different from normal depression symptoms. It mainly includes:
- A persistent sad feeling
- Hopelessness and decreased self-esteem
- Reduced energy and lack of interest
- Changed eating and sleeping patterns
- Frequent thoughts of death and suicide
- Difficulty while concentrating
- Unexplained weight gain or weight loss
- Joint aches, cramps, and pain
- Frequent digestive problems
- Lack of sex drive
- Headaches and fatigue
Who experiences it the most?
There are no specific criteria that signify depression affects whom, when, and how. Depression being not age or gender specific, can affect anyone. However, below are some common factors that make a person prone to experience mental disorders and abnormalities including winter depression.
- Sedentary lifestyle: A person who follows a passive lifestyle or often stays inside their home, lying on their bed or sofa, and those who lack fresh air and necessary body movements become easy victims of depression.
- Poor diet: The food a person consumes has a direct influence on his/her mental health. The intake of food items that are stale, oily, fried, frozen, processed, and junk contributes to aggravating depression symptoms to a great extent.
- Stress or trauma: Anyone who has experienced any physiological shock or trauma such as the death of a loved one, divorce, miscarriage, accident, or sexual abuse, eventually gets a step ahead toward problems such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
- Seasonal change: The change in weather can also impact your mental well-being and psychological behaviour. Generally, summers are considered the happy joyful days, whereas winters and late fall are believed the days of sadness and grief.
- Medications: The excessive consumption of certain medicines such as sleeping pills, painkillers, or anti-depressants disturbs the chemical balance of the brain, and eventually the person starts to suffer depression and issues alike.
- Substance abuse: Often it is seen that patients who drink alcohol or perform drug abuse, stay depressed the most. It is because such substances may make you happy temporarily but inside the system, it disrupts the function of neurotransmitters in the brain.
How is winter depression different?
Although sharing identical symptoms, winter depression is slightly different from normal depression. In fact, while looking at such key differences, a separate name has been given to winter depression – SAD which stands for SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER.
Key differences:
Time: Winter depression and winter months go together. This means that SAD mainly occurs during the winter season. But being unlike normal depression is not season-specific and can arise anytime throughout the whole year.
Duration: Often the episodes of winter depression start in late fall, become intense in winter, and eventually fade when spring arrives. However, in the case of normal depression, it can arise at any time and often stays for prolonged periods.
Light exposure: Reduced exposure to natural sunlight works as a central factor that contributes to winter depression as it impacts the body’s natural circadian rhythm and melatonin. Whereas in the case of normal depression, such a factor seems not significant.
Certain Specific symptoms: Regular depression could incorporate a long list of symptoms and complications. But during winter depression certain symptoms are seen more prominently such as fatigue, increased appetite (mainly for carbohydrates), oversleeping, and social withdrawal.
How does Seasonal Affective Disorder affect Mental Health?
Just like regular depression, SAD, or called Seasonal Affective Disorder can impact your mental health in several possible adverse ways. Firstly, it will result in complications such as easy irritability, loss of interest, a persistent feeling of sadness, regret, and low self-esteem.
When it becomes intense, winter effects on mental health may become life threats such as frequent thoughts of death or suicide. Additionally, the complications of SAD may integrate with your existing disease, if any, and become more intense such as anxiety, panic attacks, eating disorders, sleeping differences, schizophrenia, or hallucinations.
Natural ways to manage Winter Depression
Treatment of depression in Ayurveda is becoming the trust of individuals worldwide as a large chunk of people have benefitted from it. Below are some natural ways that can be highly helpful for those who are dealing with SAD, winter depression, normal depression, or any other mental issue.
1. Sit in sunlight: One of the major causative factors for winter depression is the lack of exposure to natural sunlight. So try, to get natural sunlight on a routine basis. All that you just have to do is sit in the mild sunlight for a minimum of 30 minutes with the minimum clothes possible so that sun rays can directly touch your skin.
2. Practice yoga & meditation: Make yoga and meditation a necessary component of your routine. There are several yoga poses suggested by experts that can help reduce winter depression symptoms. Patients can also opt for meditation to overcome depression as countless individuals have successfully attained relief through it.
For more meaningful insights, you can read the article:➡ Suffering from depression? Let meditation rescue you!
3. Work on your diet: Prefer the intake of a diet that is warm, and contains all essential nutrients, especially Vitamin D. Furthermore, it improves serotonin activity, which is a brain chemical controlling mood and sleep.
Furthermore, exclude all types of junk, fried, oily, processed, stale, and frozen foods from your diet, as they make you prone to winter depression and also disrupt the serotonin balance.
4. Get enough sleep: Take care of your sleeping schedule and it will work as fuel for staying active and energetic throughout the day. For a sound mind, the experts often suggest to take 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Also, make sure you sleep at early night and if possible, keep all the electronic gadgets away from your bed.
5. Family time: Spend some quality time with your friends, family, and loved ones. Sharing your emotions will help you to loosen your mental burden. Cracking jokes and sharing laughs will not only provide you with lovely memories but also mental clarity and joy, a significant contributor to depression management.
6. Engage in activities: Participating in activities such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, or playing any outdoor game can help treat depression to a great extent. On one side, it will keep your body active and on the other hand, your mind will be relaxed, both are crucial for sound mental health and physical well-being.
7. Avoid substance abuse: Lastly, exclude all types of addictions from your life. It includes all types of abusive substances such as alcohol, beer, weed, cigarettes, drugs, etc. Such abusive substances may seem like a moment of joy, but once they get inside your system, change the brain’s structure and functioning, resulting in distorted thinking and behaviours.
Conclusion:
Winters are already here, and so does the risk of depression associated with it. Better take care of your mental health and keep it far away from you and your loved ones following certain easy measures mentioned above.
Still, if you feel things are getting out of your control, don’t hesitate to seek medical assistance.