I
know you’re probably thinking from the title that this blog has
something to do with some type of sob story. Nope! Actually, SAD is an
acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder. What is Seasonal Affective
Disorder you might ask? SAD is a form of depression that affects about
5% of adults, with 20% of people having some of the symptoms of this
condition but not enough to actually be diagnosed for the disorder. SAD
is a disorder that is seasonal and usually sets in around the fall and
winter months when the days are growing shorter and there is less
sunlight. Some people refer to it as the “winter blues.” If you are
curious as to whether you have SAD here is a good website that gives you
a checklist of symptoms: www.webmd.com.
Although most people experience this only during the fall and winter
months, there are some who experience it year round which is usually due
to chemical imbalances in the brain.
Not
too long ago, sometime around the first part of August of this year, I
was sitting in a restaurant eating while waiting for my husband to pick
me up. The restaurant was empty except for an elderly lady who sat down
to eat a salad about three or four tables from me. I really can’t recall
how the conversation got started but she struck up a conversation just
commenting on the weather that day and how nice it was considering how
hot it had been all summer. The temperatures were somewhere in the 70s
and it was a really nice cool but sunny day. As the conversation went on
she also mentioned how she was not looking forward to the fall and
winter months because she always has a tendency to hibernate during
these times. I expressed to her that I have had my bouts with wanting to
hibernate as well and that a lot of people struggle with this. She also
stated that she was taking medication for depression. I mentioned to
her that after doing a lot of research and studying I learned that the
reason people are so energetic and in such high spirits during the
spring and summer months is because of the sunlight. And it’s actually
due to good affects that sunlight gives us. Believe it or not we
actually get vitamin D from the sun. I was shocked by that a couple of
years ago when I found this out because most of the research regarding
the effects of the sun in regards to your health is in relation to skin
cancer and advising people to use sunscreen to protect themselves.
Although this is definitely necessary, yet and still, since most of the
attention is given to protection from the sun’s rays, most people would
never really consider the fact that there could be health benefits to
getting sunlight. There are many health benefits to soaking up the sun’s
rays! Making sure you use plenty of sunscreen protection of course.
Here
are some of the things that this wonderful creation of God (our sun)
can do for you. Sunlight helps the body in the production of vitamin D
that is necessary for calcium absorption and it directly affects our
mood. Not only does sunlight help the body in producing vitamin D, it
also helps to keep your neurotransmitters in good working order.
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that send signals from cell to cell in
our body, from one neuron to the next. Although there are numerous
neurotransmitters, (neurological research has identified over 50 of
them) there are four types of neurotransmitters that most people are
familiar with that are most significant and directly related to mental
health. They are: seratonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and endorphin.
Without getting all technical and too detailed in describing them,
(believe me, there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to neuroscience.
In case you didn’t know, our bodies are like a machine.) I will just
give a brief description of what each one is responsible for in the
body.
Seratonin
is basically our mood regulator and is involved with our emotions, our
perception, and how we feel. Too little seratonin can lead to
depression, cause irritability, anger issues, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and a host of other emotional issues. People also tend to
crave carbohydrates (typically ending up eating the wrong kinds) due to
the fact that the body is really trying to increase seratonin levels in
the brain. What carbohydrates do is raise the level of insulin, a
hormone in the body, which in turn activates an amino acid called
tryptophan. Tryptophan is then “ushered” into the brain. And guess what?
Trytophan is a precursor to getting our seratonin juices flowing.
Aaahhh!! No wonder we crave those bagels and that pizza so much during
the fall and winter months. That’s our body’s way of trying to increase
our seratonin levels to make us “feel good.” Um-hum! Also, when you are
in very stressful situations, whether it’s job-related or whatever, this
causes you crave carbohydrates (“raiding” the vending machine while at
work…does this sound familiar?). Your body is looking for a way to
relax. Seratonin does this for you. No wonder it’s so hard to stick to
those diets when we’re all stressed out. It’s not so much appetite
suppression that we need, it’s finding ways to keep our hormones in
balance by involving ourselves in things that relax us. Exercise is one
of them. Personally, I just happen to be one of those people who
inherited genes that dictated that I would naturally have low levels of
seratonin and have to make sure that I do everything that is necessary
to boost this
hormone. Maybe that’s why I love working out. A lot of people don’t
like to exercise but there are times that I actually crave those
workouts (mostly during stressful times in my life). Speaking of
exercise, this brings me to the next neurotransmitter endorphin.
Endorphins
function as neurotransmitters. This is our body’s natural morphine
which is produced by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus during
exercise. No wonder I love exercise so much. When you are in stressful
situations, the body looks for ways to get those neurotransmitters
working for you whether it’s through food or exercise. The body knows
what it needs. By the way, in speaking of food that increases seratonin
levels earlier in the blog, I looooove chicken. Always have. I can
actually say that I am a bonafide chicken addict and according to my
husband a chicken hawk ((laugh)). Most everybody in my family knows that
I am the “chicken queen” because I can eat chicken for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner almost everyday. I may take a break for a few days but
after my separation from chicken, I just gotta have it! After years and
years of my love affair with chicken I decided to do a little reading
about this meat source derivative of a walking bird and found out that
chicken has…drum roll…..tryptophan!! I’ve been telling my husband for
years that there was a scientific explanation for my chicken addiction
after being ridiculed and teased for my love for it. ;-) By the way, if
you’re going to eat chicken, which is a good source of protein for those
who are trying to lose weight, make sure you are getting good quality
chicken that hasn’t been injected with hormones and chemicals. (That’s a
whole other topic of discussion.) And while I’m speaking of healthy
things to eat, going back to carbohydrates; there’s nothing wrong with
eating pizza or any other carbohydrate as long as we make sure that we
are taking in healthy carbs
like whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, fruit and raw or steamed
vegetables. It’s better to make the pizza yourself from scratch using
whole wheat flour or unprocessed flour and throw some spinach or finely
chopped broccoli on the pizza to make it even more healthy. There are
even some vegan restaurants nowadays that make healthier pizzas and
other foods that allow you to eat out and choose healthier options. Ok
now back to the hormones.
Let’s
talk a little about melatonin. Although this is not a neurotransmitter
but a hormone, it’s something that needs to be discussed as well because
it is directly related to other hormones and helps to regulate other
hormones. Melatonin is the hormone responsible for controlling our sleep
patterns. It regulates our circadian rhythm which is an internal
24-hour “clock” that tells us when to fall asleep and when to wake up.
Without this we would all be insomiacs!! During those dark hours your
body produces more melatonin, during the daylight hours your body
produces less. This is the reason why people get jet lag or struggle
with sleeping during the day when they have 2nd and 3rd shift jobs. It throws the body’s sleep cycle out of whack. Now on to norepinephrine.
Norepinephrine
functions as a neurotransmitter and a hormone. The difference between a
neurotransmitter and a hormone is simply that neurotransmitters are
released from nerve cells whereas hormones are produced by the endocrine
gland. Norepinephrine is secreted and released by the adrenal glands
and by the noradrenergic neurons. It is a stress hormone that the brain
releases during times of stress. When norepinephrine and its pathways
are not functioning properly in the brain, a number of disorders can
occur, including depression and attention disorders. Dopamine and
norepinephrine are transported along the same pathway in the brain so if
norepinephrine production is constricted in some way, dopamine
production will also be affected. That takes us into a discussion about
dopamine.
Dopamine
is the neurotransmitter that controls our brain processes, movement,
emotional responses, and our ability to experience pleasure and pain.
Dopamine is a precursor to norepinephrine. It plays a crucial role in
both our physical and mental health. People with Parkinson’s disease
have lost their dopamine producing ability. The neurons that transmit
this hormone have died, thereby adversely affecting muscle movement. The
brain of a person with Parkinson’s disease contains almost no dopamine.
Parkinson’s patients are typically given drugs that can be converted to
dopamine in the brain to help relieve their symptoms. Other disorders
with dopamine production can cause a decline in neuro-cognitive
functions such as memory and attention. This is one of the causes of
Alzheimer’s.
Now
that I’ve discussed a few of the main neurotransmitters and how these
work to help us maintain a healthy state of mind and healthy bodies, I
just want to end by saying that in regards to SAD and other mood
disorders, a lot of times it is unrecognized by both the person who is
experiencing it and family and friends. It is so much easier for people
to recognize and acknowledge a person with a physical disorder or
disability opposed to someone with a mental or emotional disorder
because most people are not educated in regards to the neurological
function of the body. Outward signs of illness can be responded to more
readily because we can see them and therefore we are more compassionate
toward those who have a physical illness. When it comes to brain
disorders or emotional disorders such as depression, ADHD, autism,
alzheimer’s, and bipolar disorder, people typically don’t understand
what’s happening and therefore are not as compassionate with people who
experience it. Sometimes these type of disorders are silent killers, if
left untreated, that people often attribute to a person’s personality.
They consider the person who is suffering from it to have a personality
or character flaw because of the negative emotions that are displayed as
a result of it but the negative emotions are usually the only signs and
symptoms that are displayed. People don’t attribute these type of
symptoms to brain disorders or mental illness since they so easily seem
to be linked to personality issues.
SAD
is something that can be managed with proper nutrition, healthy eating
habits, and exercise. If it’s something that persists long-term beyond
the seasonal period, you should seek the advice of a doctor and get
medical attention. Make sure you are getting plenty of vitamin D from
milk and/or supplements and try to get as much sunlight everyday as
possible by going outside (even in the cold). During the winter take
time to even enjoy the snow. Winter is one of my favorite seasons
because of the “white stuff” that I love so much! Make sure you are
getting plenty of exercise to boost those endorphins and stimulate the
production of other vital hormones in your body that directly affect
your mood. Also, don’t neglect much needed time for nourishing your
spirit. Meditation through prayer, scripture reading, or yoga can have a
tremendous positive effect on the mind and body.