Apathy, anxiety, irritability, unwillingness to communicate with others – we usually associate these signs of a depressive state with the autumn-winter season, rainy and gloomy. However, seasonal depression also has a summer variant.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression commonly associated with the winter months, with a lack of sunlight. But there is also summer (or reverse) seasonal affective disorder. It is much less common than winter, and affects less than 1% of people, but even this modest figure means that millions suffer from it. What does it represent?
The symptoms of summer seasonal disorder largely overlap with those of classic depression: a person shows anxiety and irritability, loses sleep and appetite, refuses to communicate. “The clinical picture of summer depression is well documented,” says clinical psychologist Norman Rosenthal.1. “But its true causes are still unclear.” Norman Rosenthal and his colleague Thomas Ver (Thomas Wehr) from the National Institute of Mental Health (USA) first described the phenomenon of winter depression in 1984, and three years later found evidence of its summer counterpart. But scientists are still arguing about what exactly happens to the body during this period.
Norman Rosenthal explains that as the seasons change, our brains adapt to the transition from winter to warm spring weather, and those with seasonal disorder are likely to have trouble adjusting. It is not known exactly which neurotransmitters this affects, but Norman Rosenthal notes that people with summer depression have great difficulty in tolerating increased daylight hours and hot weather.
Winter depression is accompanied by lethargy and drowsiness, while summer depression, on the contrary, is characterized by insomnia and overexcitation.
The symptoms of summer depression are not very stable. Winter depression lasts, as a rule, 5 months, causing a breakdown, and summer depression overtakes everyone at different times: someone notices its signs in the spring, and someone only in the summer, during the hottest months. Winter depression is accompanied by lethargy and drowsiness, while summer depression, on the contrary, is characterized by insomnia and overexcitation. Suicide peaks in late spring and summer, and Rosenthal believes that manic and depressive episodes, a combination of which is one of the characteristic manifestations of summer SAD, are partly to blame.
Social factors also play a role. In winter, we can comfortably sit on a warm sofa and spend long hours reading books or watching our favorite movies. And it calms us, comforts us. But it’s strange to stay at home in the summer. The hot months require us to go outside more often, be active and sociable. “When your friends and acquaintances have a great time in companies, and you sit at home alone in the evenings, you especially feel your isolation, and this is depressing,” explains Norman Rosenthal.
And someone during this period gets hung up on the shortcomings of his figure. The idea that he (she) does not look good enough in swimming trunks (swimsuit) or the weight is not what we would like, can only increase depression.
Regular physical activity is essential, but yoga and swimming are the best during the hot season
In a word, sunny and spring-summer time is not perceived by everyone as a time of happy expectations and renewal. If you find yourself with two or more of the following symptoms – a feeling of apathy and impotence, loss of concentration and appetite, insomnia, anxious and even more suicidal thoughts – all this is certainly a reason to consult a specialist. Ways to help with depression have long been developed, these are traditional methods of treatment (antidepressants, cognitive and other methods of psychotherapy), and non-traditional ones (meditation, yoga, reflexology).
If the symptoms of depression are not so pronounced, use the wisdom of Ayurveda. “Regular physical activity is essential, but yoga and swimming are the best during the hot season,” says Ayurvedic expert Katie Silkox.2. – Let the movements be slow and not warm up the body. Focus on spinal twists and forward bends. In the diet, focus on cooling, dry and heavy foods.
Sweet, bitter and astringent should be the main tastes. Drink cool (but not icy!) water with mint, cucumber and lime.”
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1 Norman Rosenthal is a clinical psychologist and author who first described the phenomenon of winter depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in the 1980s.
2 Katie Silkox, author of Healthy, Happy, Sexy. The wisdom of Ayurveda for modern women” (Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2016).