Why depression in winter. What is winter depression and how to deal with it? How does a person with such a pathology feel

Depression has become a modern disease of humanity. All psychologists are often faced with the need to help people eliminate depressive conditions, which often occur seasonally. So, winter depression becomes frequent, the main reason for which is considered to be a lack of sunlight. It manifests itself in the usual symptoms and needs treatment.

Specialists of the online magazine site say that people are increasingly suffering from the effects of the winter depression. They feel tired and irritable. A depressed person feels distracted, overeats, lacks energy, and is socially isolated. Doctors should be consulted if symptoms of depression last for more than two weeks, thoughts of suicide, feelings of hopelessness, or a decline in the quality of life at work or in the family.

Winter depression is attributed to three main factors that become common during this period:

1. Lack of sunlight.
2. Vitamin deficiency.
3. Diseases of a debilitating nature, for example, infectious respiratory diseases.

You should help yourself to get rid of the winter depression. The main recommendation is frequent walks in the fresh air, which a person should take regularly during the day. You should also eat well, exercise, and socialize with pleasant people.

What is Winter Depression?

Seasonal manifestations of depression are distinguished into a separate category. What is Winter Depression? It is an affective disorder that occurs during the winter and is manifested by impaired thought activity and emotional depression. Many can remember similar states, when in the morning they do not want to get out of bed, there is a "wolfish" appetite, because it is damp and cold outside.

Winter depression is marked by a decline in strength that is difficult to recover. A person becomes emotionally depressed, he has no desires and energy is not generated.

Winter depression affects all people, regardless of age and gender. However, the peak falls on the age of 18-30, when a person is acutely aware of the changes in strength and energy. In any case, if the depressive state is not eliminated, then complications can arise:

• Social isolation.
• Suicidal thoughts and actions.
• Problems at work, school or home.
• Development of addictions:, medicinal,.

Every person experiences winter depression symptoms differently. In some, they manifest themselves in full force, significantly interfering with a full life, while others only partially unbalance a person. It is worth noting that the winter depression can take place at the onset of spring, or it can last longer, which also depends on the degree. If it is impossible to cope with depressive symptoms on your own, then the help of a psychologist is offered.

Since winter depression is a quarter of life, ways should be found to eliminate it. This will help the analysis of the causes of the winter (seasonal) depression.

Causes of winter depression

Since we are talking about a specific period of the year, you should find out why depression occurs not in summer or autumn, but in winter. The reason for the winter depression, scientists note the lack of sunlight, which is noted in short days and the need for a person to spend daytime in closed (office, factory) premises.

The light beam hits the retina of the eye, from where a signal is sent to the brain. If there is not enough sunlight, then the brain produces a small amount of serotonin, a hormone responsible for raising mood, generating energy and eliminating drowsiness.

In winter, a person feels drowsy. This is due to a lack of sunlight, which allows the brain to produce large amounts of melatonin, the calm hormone that makes a person sluggish and sleepy. This, of course, does not affect a person's ability to eat well and provide himself with warmth and shelter. However, it is during this period that a person cannot take an active life position, which looks like a "hibernation".

Other biological causes of winter depression are:

1. Temperature drops, their sharp decrease.
2. Slowdown of metabolic processes.
3. Infectious diseases that are common in the winter.
4. Avitaminosis.

Winter becomes the period when a person is most sentimental. The failures that arise seem catastrophic, and the inability to spend the time the way you want, makes you feel unnecessary and lonely. Stresses do not leave a person in winter, who can experience them not only on a psycho-emotional level, but also on a physical one.

The following categories of people fall into the risk group:

• Middle-aged women.
• Elderly people.
• Lonely individuals who are acutely lonely during the winter holidays.
• People from 20 to 40 years old.

Signs of winter depression

Winter depression has its own individual character for each person. The severity of symptoms and their duration may also vary. However, the signs of winter depression should be identified so that, with their prolonged presence, you can seek medical help in time.

Signs of winter depression:

1. Emotional sphere:

• Aggravated irritability.
• Feelings of despair.
• Gloomy, depressed mood, melancholy.
• Loss of attraction and interest in activities that previously brought moral satisfaction.
• Feelings of guilt, hopelessness, worthlessness.
• An agonizing feeling of unhappiness.
• Loss of the ability to experience positive emotions.
• Decreased self-esteem.
• Increased anxiety and stress levels.
• Lethargy, a feeling of "leaden" legs, deterioration of health.

1. Physiological symptoms:

• Partial or complete decrease in libido.
• Obvious eating disorders: gluttony or unwillingness to eat. A person may start to eat a lot of sweets or become addicted to alcohol.
• Loss of energy tone: a noticeable feeling of weakness, loss of strength, increased fatigue with loads that are familiar to a person.
• Sleep disturbance, when a person wakes up often or sleeps for a long time, but does not feel like he is rested, which requires additional time to sleep.
• Decreased ability to deal with stressful situations, decreased performance.
• Digestive disorders, decreased immunity, tendency to develop infectious diseases.
• Joint pain.

1. Behavioral symptoms:

• Isolation from people around you.
• Striving for loneliness, seclusion.
• Decreased empathy.
• Conflict in relationships with others.
• Problems arising at work, at home, at school.

1. Cognitive sphere:

• Difficulty making decisions.
• Decreased concentration and concentration.
• The emergence of ideas about their own uselessness.
• Having depressing and dark thoughts.
• Memory impairment.
• Suicidal ideas.

The duration of the symptoms of winter depression differs from person to person. It usually starts at the end of November and ends at the end of March. It passes gradually or against the background of hypomania, hyperactivity:

1. With hypomania, the symptoms of depression gradually pass without obvious changes in mood.
2. With hyperactivity, there is a sudden change in mood, agitation (agitation).

A rather unpleasant, but mild form of winter depression is latent. It is marked by such signs:

• Fatigue.
• Lethargy.
• Disturbed appetite and sleep.

Some may ignore the symptoms of winter depression, but they recur every time the winter comes. In order not to spend a quarter of your life in a depressive state, you need to resort to various methods of treatment.

Winter depression treatment

Since the main cause of winter depression is sunlight deficiency, light therapy is the main focus of treatment. For it, fluorescent lamps are used, which in many ways exceed the intensity of conventional lamps. Even outside on a rainy day, there is more light than in a well-lit room. That is why it is recommended to use lamps with a brightness of 2500 Lx or more in winter.

Light therapy can be used both as a treatment and to prevent winter depression. It will be sufficient to stay in such lighting for at least 30 minutes daily for at least 2 weeks. After this period, a person begins to feel energetic and cheerful.

Other treatments for winter depression are:

1. Hiking on sunny days.
2. Food that should be fortified.
3. Making morning exercises.
4. Connection of additional physical activity or sports.
5. Using a bright lamp in the bedroom to simulate daylight.
6. Observance of the correct regime of the day and rest. Get enough sleep, but do not overshoot.
7. Communication with nice people, visiting interesting places and institutions.
8. Surrounding yourself with bright and cheerful colors and things, avoiding gloomy tones.
9. Passionate yourself into various hobbies during the winter to distract yourself from gloomy thoughts.

You should not be afraid to see a psychologist if the symptoms of winter depression last more than 2 weeks. Only in this case can we talk about the pathological development of the condition, which needs to be subjected to specialized treatment. It rarely includes medications (antidepressants). Often everything is limited only to psychotherapy, which helps in eliminating psychological or emotional problems.

There is no need to talk about any "psychiatric hospital" or illness, as long as a person realizes his own state and wants to correct the situation. Through conversations with a psychotherapist, you can identify all the causes of winter depression. Often we are talking about psychological stresses and experiences that a person can hardly endure in winter. Only in exceptional cases does a person need medical help to relax and unwind.

Outcome

Winter depression does not negatively affect the person who learns to cope with it and takes all actions to resume a normal lifestyle. The result is always successful, since any manipulation leads to positive events.

The prognosis may worsen if a person ignores winter depression. It can go away on its own with the onset of spring and summer. However, with the arrival of winter, it will show itself again. In order not to waste time on unnecessary experiences and sensations, you should help yourself or use psychological help.

With a reduction in daylight hours, many people experience the so-called winter depression. This condition is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and is characterized by lethargy, decreased performance, and severe emotional distress. At the same time, the desire for social contacts disappears, and the need for sleep and food increases. A person can sleep much more than usual, but get up tired and overwhelmed in the morning. This condition can appear as early as autumn, when the day is significantly shortened.

Symptoms

Seasonal depression has symptoms that are typical of all mood disorders. The first group of signs is made up of emotional disorders:

• apathy;
• bad mood;
• decreased self-esteem;
• inability to experience joy;
• increased irritability.

The second group of symptoms is cognitive impairment:

• deterioration in the ability to remember;
• difficulty concentrating;
• difficulty in intellectual activity.

Signs of seasonal depression are also characteristic, such as constant sleepiness and fatigue. Reduced immunity leads to frequent colds, and an increased need for sleep and food, excessive consumption of carbohydrates and weight gain. A person withdraws into himself, avoids communication with others. He begins to be weighed down by the need for contacts, prefers not to leave the house once again.

Frosty weather can also worsen the well-being of people who are sensitive to sudden changes in meteorological conditions.

Experts believe that the diagnosis of SAR can be considered confirmed only if these symptoms occur in the same period, at least 3 years in a row and disappear with increasing daylight hours.

Causes of the condition

Women are more susceptible to winter depression than men, since the former are more emotional. These are the conclusions reached by Polish scientists after a study in which both sexes participated. The majority of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SAD had persistent fatigue and an increase in sleep duration without feeling awake after sleep. And, as a result, an increased need for sweet and starchy foods and an increase in body weight. Atypical forms of depression were also recorded. With them, the need for sleep and nutrition decreased, and there was a sharp loss of body weight. Moreover, these forms in severity exceeded the typical seasonal disorder.

Pathological hormonal changes caused by a decrease in the length of daylight have been recognized as the etiological factors of winter depression. This leads to a discrepancy between the body's circadian rhythms and external conditions.

In winter, the body reduces the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for positive emotions and good mood. In addition, the secretion of the hormone melatonin increases, which increases the need for sleep.

Scientists claim that winter depression occurs primarily in people over 18 years of age. Especially introverts and people with a high level of anxiety suffer from the disease.

Light therapy

The experts agreed that the best effect in the fight against winter depression is given by light therapy... Ultraviolet treatment is carried out in a hospital setting. During this procedure, the patient is placed in a special box and irradiated with visible light. You can cope with winter depression on your own. Try to walk in the fresh air as much as possible in the morning and afternoon hours, even in snow and cold. The lighting level outdoors is always higher than indoors, even if the weather is cloudy.

A special full spectrum lamp is now available to simulate intense daylight. Also on sale are lamps with a flame effect.

You can purchase an LED flame lamp here

It is also helpful to buy an alarm clock that simulates dawn. It gradually and naturally increases the light intensity. Thus, allowing a person to wake up not from a harsh sound, but from pleasant sunlight. The devices provide full spectrum light. It mimics the sun as much as possible and is equivalent to it in terms of its effect on the body.

Physical activity

Besides, you can overcome the depressive state with the help of active physical activity... Strong exercise in the gym and walking in the fresh air will increase the secretion of serotonin, which can also lift your mood. Walking for an hour every day can reduce the likelihood of an SAD attack and significantly improve your mood.

Foods for winter depression

Proper nutrition, balanced in fat, protein and carbohydrates will provide the body with the necessary energy. It will help maintain a healthy body weight, as well as protect against seasonal depression and associated unpleasant symptoms.

In winter, most people are limited in their essential vitamins because the overall proportion of fruits and vegetables is reduced. At the same time, a person begins to feel a lack of energy, a deterioration in immunity and a decrease in mood. It is important to understand what to do in this case, and what substances are most necessary for a person in winter:

• Serotonin is made from dietary amino acids, so you should eat enough fish, meat, eggs, and legumes.
• To saturate the body with vitamins and minerals, you should increase the consumption of seasonal vegetables. Fresh fruits can be replaced with dried fruits.
• Polyunsaturated fatty acids are found in nuts and seafood, so they should be on the menu at least three times a week.
• To get enough vitamin D, you need to eat egg yolk and fatty fish.
• Cereals contain slow carbohydrates and are rich in B vitamins, so they need to be consumed regularly, preferably in the morning.

To increase serotonin levels, nutritionists recommend eating bananas, cilantro, eggs, turkey meat, and avocados. An excellent addition to the winter diet will be a vitamin-mineral complex and Omega-3 capsules.

Enjoyable activities

To overcome depression, it is important to maintain an even mood, which is highly dependent on activities that give a person pleasure. Their list may include traveling, meeting friends and like-minded people, hobbies, meeting new people and visiting museums and exhibitions. A warm bath with essential oils and herbs, taken regularly before bed will help you calm down, relieve tension and relieve negative effects.

To improve your mood, you can use little tricks: start making plans for your summer vacation today, organize a holiday, or grow a mini-vegetable garden in a box on the windowsill.

Surrounding yourself with things of your favorite color and putting on light-colored clothes at home, you can get rid of a bad mood. Such color therapy may become a small everyday holiday for someone on a gray winter day.

Many people don't like gray winter days. As soon as the cold begins, the mood falls, drowsiness torments, there is no desire to go anywhere, you just want to sleep. It is seasonal affective disorder or seasonal depression. This diagnosis is even included in the International Classification of Diseases, although not all scientists agree that these changes in the body during the cold season can be considered a disease.

Causes of seasonal depression

For the first time, the American scientist Norman Rosenthal spoke about her. He was born and raised in South Africa, but was later forced to move to the North of the United States to continue his studies. The scientist noticed that in winter his working capacity was falling. He was the first to describe the symptoms of this disease. As it turned out, they manifested themselves in many inhabitants of sunny countries who moved to the north. But not only among the newcomers, quite often among the northerners themselves, similar changes were observed.

For a long time, scientists could not understand what caused the deterioration in health, which manifests itself only in the cold season. There were hypotheses that linked them to a drop in temperature. But later it was found that the "culprit" is not cold or dampness, but a lack of lighting. In a person who is constantly in the dark (and in winter we often suffer from a lack of sunlight), the production of other substances increases and the synthesis of other substances is disrupted, including serotonin, which is necessary for a good mood.

Melatonin makes people sleepy and lethargic. Once upon a time, such changes were a blessing for our ancestors. In winter, when food was not so affordable, it was necessary to save energy, so human activity decreased. Now that we have already forgotten what hunger is, winter apathy makes it difficult to concentrate on work, so we need to fight it.

Signs of winter depression

A feature is that health deterioration usually occurs in the same months, most often from the end of November to March.
The main symptoms of this disease:
a person has difficulty waking up, he cannot get enough sleep, even if he sleeps longer than usual, there is a need for additional sleep;
all day long you want to sleep, tormented by lethargy, apathy, no energy and no desire to do anything;
it is difficult to concentrate on work, memory deteriorates, and intellectual activity decreases;
the usual loads are hard to bear, fatigue quickly appears, the ability to work decreases;
a person can hardly cope with stressful situations, often refuses to communicate, which may cause problems with friends and at work;
instead of going to the park, taking a walk on the street, many people prefer to just lie down in their free time;
a person overeats, there is a desire to eat more sweets and flour products;
someone may have an increased level of anxiety, irritability appears, will be.

All symptoms of the disease do not necessarily appear, only part of them may be present. With the arrival of spring, they usually disappear, especially if it was sunny this year. In addition, there is a latent form of the disease in which a person complains of fatigue, sleep disturbances, changes in eating habits, lethargy, it is usually easier to tolerate.

Treatment

The treatment for this ailment may seem unusual, i.e. it is not taking antidepressants, but light therapy. But this is understandable, since the reason for its occurrence was the lack of light. But this does not mean that you can turn on all the lights in the house to get rid of unpleasant symptoms. For therapy to work, the light must be very bright, between 2500 and 10,000 Lux, and the light level in a normal room is usually less than 500 Lx. The necessary equipment can be in clinics, beauty parlors, where you will have to go for sessions. The duration of the session depends on the power of the light source:

2500 lux - 2 hours;
5000 lux - 1 hour;
10,000 lux - 0.5 hours.

Usually, four weeks of therapy is enough to cope with winter depression. But the sessions should be carried out in the morning, if you go to them in the evening, problems with sleep may begin. During light therapy, it is not necessary to lie or sit, you can do your usual activities: read, work with a laptop, talk, i.e. to spend time usefully. Already on the third day of treatment, the patient may feel an improvement, and by the end of the treatment, vigor and energy return to him. You can also conduct sessions at home by purchasing bright fluorescent lamps or special lamps for light therapy. But such lamps are not yet affordable. If you want to purchase a special lamp, you should first talk to your doctor about it. People with eye diseases should be especially careful.

Additional Ways to Combat Winter Depression

If you do not have the opportunity to be treated with light therapy, you can try other methods of struggle:
1. Physical activity. Sports are very useful (you can ski, skate). Exercise every day. Try to walk daily, especially on frosty and sunny days. On the street, the level of illumination is higher, although we do not notice it, even in cloudy weather it can be about 1000 lux.
2. Proper nutrition. Your diet should be balanced, with the diet you should receive the required amount of vitamins.
3. Interesting leisure time.Communicate more with friends and relatives, leave the house more often. Hobbies will also help.
4. Bright things. Try not to wear dark clothes, surround yourself with bright items that cheer you up.
5. Regime of the day.Despite the fact that you want to sleep all the time, try to stick to the daily routine, do not oversleep. To make it easier to get up in the morning, you can purchase a lamp that will simulate sunrise.

Winter depression is not a myth, not an invention of lazy people who dream of hibernating and doing nothing, but, unfortunately, a proven and scientifically explained fact. But, there is a positive side to this. Now we know why you want to sleep all the time in winter, it is so hard to concentrate on work and fulfill your duties. All this is a temporary phenomenon, and this condition can be overcome if you adhere to certain rules.

Winter depression Is a seasonal affective disorder in which emotional disturbances of the depressive series and cognitive functions occur in the winter. Winter depression manifests itself unexpectedly: a heavy morning rise, no desire to go to work, you just want to sleep and eat when it is cold and damp outside the window. This condition can occur at any age, but often the first manifestations are observed between 18 and 30 years. Untreated depression can lead to complications: suicidal behavior and thoughts, social isolation, the development of addictions (alcohol, drug), problems with work or study.

Causes of winter depression

Scientists are convinced that the occurrence of winter depressive disorder is directly related to a decrease in the length of daylight hours. In summer and spring, the retina of the human eye receives the necessary amount of bright sunlight, which in turn stimulates the production of serotonin, which is responsible for good mood, and at the same time blocks the production of melatonin.

In winter, the human brain produces an increased amount of the sleep hormone melatonin, which has a calming effect on the body, causing drowsiness and lethargy. It is possible that for our ancestors, the decrease in activity in the winter period made sense, since it was necessary to use energy wisely due to the difficulties in the cold season to replenish the reserves of nutrients for the future when food was not so available. Nowadays, stores offer an abundance of food all year round, and employers expect employees to perform well. And people, faced with this problem, do not know what to do when the winter depression prevails.

Symptoms and signs of winter depression

- memory impairment, indecision, difficulty concentrating, decrease or slowdown in intellectual activity;

- sleep disorders: despite the fact that sleep is increased in time, a person does not recover his strength; the appearance of the need for additional sleep during the daytime; premature or difficult awakening;

- in the daytime, deterioration of health: lethargy, drowsiness, lethargy, persistent loss of energy, feeling of "leaden" limbs;

- intolerance to ordinary loads, fatigue, decrease or loss of working capacity, inability to cope with stressful situations;

- overeating, an increase in the consumption of sweet foods (sweets and flour products), alcohol;

- digestive disorders, decreased libido, joint pain, decreased immunity and resistance to infectious diseases (ARVI, influenza);

- changes in social behavior in young and childhood;

- avoidance of communication, conflict-related behavior, difficulty in communication with other individuals, decrease. Behavioral changes lead to problems with family, work, and friends.

Symptoms of winter depression often recur every winter, beginning in late November and continuing through March.

The signs of winter depression disappear with the arrival of spring. This happens either gradually or abruptly against the background of hyperactivity or hypomania.

In the first variant, there are sudden sudden changes in mood, excitement (agitation), anxiety, or short periods of hyperactivity (hypomania).

In the second case, the symptoms of winter depressive disorder gradually disappear without any changes in mood.

The rate at which symptoms disappear depends on the intensity of sunlight in the spring.

There is also a latent (disguised) form of winter depression, in which the following symptoms dominate: lethargy, fatigue, eating and sleep disorders. The latent form is milder, but also a rather unpleasant condition.

This seasonal affective disorder is a serious problem that does not allow an individual to live a normal life and requires timely and qualified treatment.

Winter depression treatment

As noted above, light starvation plays an important role in the mechanism of the onset of winter depression, which causes disruption of the pineal gland, which is responsible for all circadian rhythms in the body of an individual. Failure of rhythms is a serious stress, leading to severe consequences in the form of sleep disturbance. The main treatment for winter depression is light therapy, as the reason it occurs is a lack of light. However, the light needs to be very bright. Even in a well-lit room, the illumination level often does not exceed 500 Lx (illumination is measured in lux (Lx)), and to combat the winter depression, you need from 2500 to 10,000 Lx, in sunny weather the illumination can exceed 100,000 Lx. For comparison, even on a cloudy day, the illumination level on the street is tens of times higher than the illumination in the room.

Therefore, the treatment of winter depression at home includes the purchase of a lamp with a brightness of 2500 Lx. Artificial indoor lighting (lamps, lanterns), which is only a few hundred lux, will not work in this case. There are currently various light therapy lamps. Their brightness reaches up to 10,000 Lx, however, they cannot be called affordable for all people. Before buying such a lamp, you must first consult with a doctor who will help determine the true causes of winter depressive disorder. Also, caution is important in case of any eye diseases.

The light therapy course lasts on average up to two weeks. During the sessions, you can write, read, communicate by phone, engage in any other activity, but with one condition: light must fall on the retina.

Everyday lamp use sessions from 30 min. up to 2 hours (2500 Lx - 2 hours, 5000 Lx - 1 hour, 10,000 Lx - 30 minutes) in the morning, will help to cope with drowsiness and other troubles that are caused by an excess of melatonin. Bright light will have a suppressive effect on the secretion of the sleep hormone, thereby increasing the production of the hormone of happiness - serotonin.

According to the research results, it was revealed that already on the third day of treatment, a positive effect was noted. And by the end of the treatment for winter depression, the person again feels cheerful and energetic. Experts recommend using light therapy also as a preventive procedure during the winter season, when a person feels a lack of sunlight.

If there is no way to get rid of winter depression using light therapy, then lying all day with a bar of chocolate is not a solution to this problem.

There are other ways to treat winter depression. After all, this condition in many people manifests itself in a loss of strength and a bad mood.

- take walks every day, especially on frosty and sunny days;

- you need to do exercises every day;

- you can connect additional sports activities, physical activity will help to cheer up;

- it is important to monitor your diet, which should be fortified and balanced;

- you need to sleep enough, but not oversleep, and also observe the daily routine;

- to make it easier to wake up in the morning, it is recommended to install a lamp in the bedroom that will simulate dawn. These lamps are equipped with a timer, and 30 minutes before the alarm goes off, it starts to "dawn" in the room. Light signals begin to enter the brain and the body prepares to wake up;

- it will be advisable not to stay at home within four walls, but to communicate with friends, relatives; it will cheer up and bring joy;

- you should surround yourself with bright things and objects, avoid dark tones in the wardrobe;

- you need to find something to your liking - a hobby that will distract you from sad thoughts, lying on the couch and eating large quantities of food.

Winter depression (seasonal affective disorder) is a condition of severe weakness, fatigue and absent-mindedness in the winter. This is a period of predominance in a person of previously uncharacteristic passivity, combined with irritability, increased sensitivity, a state of being stuck on trifles, forgetfulness, tearfulness.

In order for such a picture to be confidently called a winter depression, it must last for at least two weeks and be persistent.

This affective disorder is recurrent and often resolves with timely appropriate treatment measures.

Both biological and psychosocial factors can lead to the development of seasonal disorder.

Biological causes

A sharp change in weather conditions, a decrease in daylight hours, oxygen starvation, temperature drops and seasonal exacerbations of colds do not pass without leaving a trace for the human body.

Winter depression has its own endogenous (internal) basis, which manifests itself in the form of disturbances in the mechanisms of neuromediation, namely, when studying the processes occurring during this period at the biological level, scientists found a violation in the rhythm of the regulation of melatonin secretion. In the body, melatonin is responsible for the phases of passivity, sleep. It has been proven that in the dark, melatonin is produced in large quantities, hence the dependence, the less light and sunny days, the more melatonin in the body, more passivity, the higher a person's cravings for sleep, passive behaviors, unreasonable laziness.

Another biological disorder is a decrease in serotonin levels. Otherwise, this hormone is called the hormone of joy and good mood. The level of serotonin in our body reduces inaction, that is, lack of proper physical activity, walking in the fresh air, light. Thus, in winter, a deficiency of serotonin leads a person to a joyless state, bad mood, tearfulness, susceptibility - winter depression.

Psychosocial factors

Winter is the time for family holidays, noisy parties at work, gifts and pleasant surprises. If a person, for some reason, wants, but cannot afford such emotional pleasures, a state of prolonged depression of mood, discomfort, feelings of loneliness, uselessness and meaninglessness arises.

The person also becomes passive, refuses active efforts to change the situation. During such periods, life seems to be a series of failures and losses, thoughts and states unconditionally lead to winter depression.

Who is at risk

According to statistics, people aged 20 - 59 years are most prone to seasonal affective disorder, with the largest number of the disease being traced in the period from 20 - 39 years. Women complain of winter depression than men. Usually such statistics are explained by female sensitivity and emotional lability.

Along with gender and age characteristics, we must not forget that the inhabitants of northern latitudes will be most susceptible to seasonal depression - countries where winter lasts long, sunny days disappear along with light hours, and cloudy and dreary weather replaces the already rare sun.

Based on the above reasons, lonely people, people who experience an especially acute state of melancholy and life dissatisfaction, also fall into the risk group - during family holidays, gifts, and feasts.

Symptoms

There are a number of different manifestations of winter depression. The clinical picture of the latter is characterized by many factors and distinctive symptoms. Among them:

Emotional symptoms:

• melancholy, oppressed, gloomy mood, a sense of despair;
• aggravated irritability;
• loss of drives and aspirations in activities familiar to a person.

Physiological symptoms:

• obvious changes in appetite (gluttony or lack of desire to eat);
• lack or decrease in libido (sex drive);
• loss of energy tone; increased fatigue with previously typical human loads, a constant feeling of weakness, a noticeable loss of strength.

Behavioral symptoms:

• the desire for seclusion;
• loss of interest in people around you.

Cognitive symptoms:

• decreased ability to concentrate and concentrate;
• significant difficulties in the decision-making process;
• presence of dark and depressing ideas;
• the appearance of thoughts of their own uselessness.

It should be understood that in order to reliably confirm the diagnosis of "winter depression", these symptoms or some of them must persist for two or more weeks.

Treatment of the disease

Winter depression with its varieties is considered to be one of the most common diseases on Earth. Recently, however, the very concept of "depression" has become a very common, often used concept in everyday life. Each change of mood towards blues and sadness is now called depression, people began to forget that this is a medical concept, a disorder that requires a certain qualified approach, attention and treatment.

Undoubtedly, and that anyone can be vulnerable. We all have a mood, which means that there may be his disorder. Especially during periods when the body is weakened and stressful situations increase, and resources are running out.

Like no cure for any disease, no cure for winter depression has a number of health and social consequences. The main social consequence is a significant decrease in the quality of human life.

Family and friendships are lost, problems and troubles at work may arise, long seclusion naturally leads to the loss of social contacts in areas that previously brought joy to the individual.

The medical consequences include the deterioration of a person's somatic state, any diseases with such an affective disorder are more severe and longer.

What usually prevents a sufferer from seeking help? Of course, fears are fears that have long since lost medical support, but still generate strong resistance to seeking help.

The most common is the fear of getting into a psychiatric hospital, being registered in a psychological dispensary, and as a result, will be deprived of some social benefits, such as possession of a weapon, driving a car, and free travel abroad.

Also, a strong resistance is caused and the very thought itself will turn to a specialist with the prefix "psycho", because if a person regularly visits a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, he will be assigned the role of a mentally and "irrevocably" sick individual, lost to society. These irrational thoughts and prejudices often lure us into a trap where unnatural fear opposes a healthy and adequate desire to talk about troubles happening to him, to share the problem even with loved ones.

People are also afraid of drug treatment, because ideas about the "harm" of psychotropic drugs are often spread by people incompetent in the field of pharmacology. In such cases, it is especially important and necessary to understand that fear always remains only fear, a kind and unreasonable psychological defense that interferes with living a full life.

It is important to understand that, like any disease, winter depression must be treated, not to start the course of its course, with timely and correct treatment by a qualified specialist, psychiatric / psychotherapeutic profile, a favorable outcome is always obvious.

What is the treatment?

So, depression arose in the winter: what to do? What is the treatment? Medication and psychotherapeutic. Let's take a closer look.

Drug treatment

Any of our relationships with the outside world and people have an impact not only on the behavior, feelings, state of a person, but also on his life in general. This fact is very often forgotten by health professionals, seeking to focus only on the biology of depression and to seek a way out of the state of affective disorder only with the help of antidepressants and antipsychotics.

However, as modern studies show, the effects of psychotherapeutic influence cause no less, and sometimes even more effective changes in the biochemical processes of the brain than antidepressants. It has been proven that it is impossible to cure an affective disorder with medications alone; sometimes a reasonable combination of both is needed.

A little about non-pharmacological therapy

Antidepressants were discovered only about half a century ago. How did you deal with such conditions before? Light therapy, sleep deprivation, exercise in combination therapy.

In our time, such methods are no longer the leading and only ones, but if in complex therapy, your blues have no chance!

Psychotherapy

With the participation of a good specialist (psychotherapist), work with depression in winter is work using psychological methods and to eliminate or reduce the severity of a person's emotional problems. The basis is the work of psychological methods of influencing a person's suffering, the symptoms of his disease. As a result of the work done, a person learns to cope and overcome psychological problems that cause blues, winter depression, seasonal mood disorders.

At the first stages of therapy, psychotherapists can use psychotropic drugs as adjuncts to help reduce anxiety that interferes with focusing, participating in a discussion with a specialist, and somewhat reducing clinical symptoms.

Thus, the value of effective psychotherapy for treating seasonal depression is self-evident.

Finally

Be attentive to your psychological health, never be afraid to admit your weakness. For a time of special difficulties and suffering.