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Sunshine Swings Moods--Upward
| Article
# : |
11314 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1986 |
1,222 Words |
| Author
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Rise Jill Miller
Rise Jill Miller, a former network radio correspondent, is a
freelance journalist living in Washington, D.C. |
There is nothing like opening the shutters on a beautiful morning and flooding the room with bright sunshine. Ever wonder why your mood lightens as the day does or why you fever for the start of spring?
Surprisingly, many people are psychologically and physically affected by diminished sunshine and actually tumble into a depression during the long, dark winter months. But hibernation is not the only option for them these days. Now there is research to show that those blues can be blinked away with bright lights.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
A weather-related problem, dubbed Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD by Dr. Norman Rosenthal of the National Institute of Mental health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland, has been studied closely for five years. Dr. Rosenthal, of the Clinical Psychobiology Branch, targeted and named the disorder in 1981 and has been treating patients effectively with bright full-spectrum lights ever since.
Approximately 150 people who have been treated for this syndrome at NIMH all suffer from similar symptoms. With the onset of fall and winter, they become sad, irritable, and want to sleep more although they never seem to feel well rested. They usually develop cravings for carbohydrates and tend to withdraw from family or friends. As soon as the buds burst into bloom and the days lengthen, these people come back to life. They feel more energetic, cut back on their sleep time, and are able to work longer and more effectively.
A quick trip to a sunny climate like Florida in the winter will also help to reverse depression in SAD cases. But when the tanned, happy person returns to the darker climate, the depressive symptoms return within several days.
A Light Switch
You might think that a condition of this order would warrant drugs such as antidepressants. However, Dr. Rosenthal and Mr. Paul Gaist, program director of seasonality studies at NIMH, have found that people with SAD achieved relief simply with increased exposure to bright light.
Why does a flick of a switch and a daily dose of sunlight make a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde difference in some people? Psychobiologists are not absolutely certain, but believe that the emotional
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