One of my long-time patients, Bill, is in my office and a problem he thought was exclusively his wife’s has now become his.
“I’ve always gained a little weight over the winter but managed to get it off quickly in the summer. But I didn’t lose much this summer, I’m still 15 pounds heavier since we moved to Alaska, and I’m not happy about larding up another 3 or 5 pounds this winter.”
Aside from being a little more empathetic toward his wife and her weight gain over the years, Bill asks about whether the “psycho-box” (what he calls her light box) she started using last winter might help him with his winter mood swings too.
Weight gain and mood swings have many causes, but Alaska is a unique contributor to the problem and it has to do with the extremes in our seasons.
What we think sets the clock is the amount and intensity of light exposure to the retina. Measured in lux, the light energy we experience on a sunny day on the beach is 100,000 lux. By contrast, our home and office lighting provides about 500 lux.
Important features of seasonal mood changes: No one is immune and it is more common in women. If you don’t spend much of your wintertime outdoors when light is available, the longer you live in the higher latitudes the more vulnerable you become. And if you don’t notice it, others will notice it in you. Virtually everyone can relate to some of the symptoms of cabin fever, and many find that their summer highs get lower and the winter lows get deeper with each year.
Our gradual “larding up” in the winter as Bill put it, akin to the bears fattening for hibernation, is attributed to a craving for starchy food and simple carbohydrates which will cause a boost of energy and a serotonin surge. Serotonin is one of our neurotransmitters, a lack of which has been identified as a cause for depression. The resulting unwanted extra weight and the poor self-image doesn’t help our mood and further complicates common medical problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis symptoms, gastric reflux, and elevated cholesterol.
Most frequent symptoms: Increased irritability, less energy, less interest in activities usually enjoyed, decreased libido, difficulty with concentration and task completion, carbohydrate craving, weight gain.
The more troublesome Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): All of the milder symptoms but more severe and prolonged causing lethargy, hopelessness, social withdrawal and depression.
Take home message: though this phenomenon is real, and everyone is affected by it to some degree, it can be managed very well by you, occasionally with additional help from your physician. Foremost recommendations supported by the best science and experience:
A daily fitness program, salutary to our health in so many ways, is a specific antidote to cabin fever by stimulating endorphins and other hormones that revitalize our days and improve the quality of our sleep.
Light therapy, self-directed. It is currently thought that the intensity (lux factor) rather than full-spectrum is the critical issue.
The severe forms of Seasonal Affective Disorder can impair relationship and work productivity, and contribute to depression. If you, your family, or your friends think your behavior or mood suggests a problem, you should feel comfortable discussing it with your physician.
For more information about seasonal affective disorder, talk to your physician, read “Winter Blues” by Rosenthal, log “seasonal affective disorder-Alaska” into your favorite internet search engine.
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