Seasonal Affective Disorder Can Lead To Sleep Problems

Almost everyone suffers with changing seasons and that too with winter blues.

Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD) is referred to as winter blues.

Sunlight can lift your spirits while dull and rainy day makes you gloomy.

For some people, the shift in mood due to shift in season may not affect with daily life. But some people suffer with seasonal depression and laziness with cold weather.

Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder

The symptoms include depression, mood change, weight gain, fatigue, decreased energy, feeling of excessive sleepiness, difficulty in concentration, irritability, and increased appetite.

Seasonal affective disorder not only affects your ability to function normally but also affects the ability to get a good night’s sleep. Mostly women are affected with SAD.

SAD is associated with several sleep disorders such as advanced sleep phase syndrome and delayed sleep phase syndrome.

Waking up early in the morning and feeling tired early in the evening is referred as advanced sleep phase syndrome. Sleeping up to late morning and inability to fall asleep is called delayed sleep phase syndrome.

Causes of seasonal affective disorder

The main reason for seasonal affective disorder is the amount of light that a person is exposed to on daily basis. If a person is not exposed to adequate amount of light, his sleep wake cycle or circadian rhythm is disturbed resulting in lack of sleep.

Without sunlight, the brain does not produce serotonin which results in depression. The symptoms disappear as the days get longer.

Melatonin, which is a sleep related hormone in the brain secreted by pineal gland has been associated with seasonal affective disorder. This hormone is produced at increased levels in the dark, which may cause depression. The production of this hormone increases when the days are shorter and darker.

Light Therapy:

There are many treatments to cure seasonal affective disorder, but the main treatment is light therapy which is a well known therapy.

Light therapy consists of a light box with fluorescent lights. You can use the light box for half an hour or more. Measure the distance between eyes and the light when you are using for the first time.

Maintain the same distance daily. The light should reach your eyes but you should not stare directly into the lights.

The advantages of light therapy are no need to take medications such as antidepressants. Antidepressants may have side effects. If you are sick or pregnant, the antidepressants may affect your health.

The light therapy may also have some draw backs. You may get headache, irritability, photophobia, insomnia and fatigue.

You should not use light therapy if you have eye problems and light may damage further, if you are sensitive to light, or if you are taking medications such as antibiotics or anti-inflammatories which react with light.

If you face problems with light therapy, you can spend more time outside during daytime to get enough light. Your circadian rhythm can be stabilized and your seasonal affective disorder induced sleep disorders can be reduced with exposure to light.

Eat a well balanced diet with sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals. Exercising helps to keep you healthy. Exercise regularly for half an hour.