How is your mood this winter? Do you feel little down, irritated and tired more often? Quite possibly, you are having “Winter Blues”.
Those gloomy days with little natural lights can cause low moods and give you so-called Winter Blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Anyone can have winter blues. Luckily, it’s just a matter of time and a few lifestyle changes that can bring the smile back to your face.
Winter blues is a mood disorder that surfaces during the dark and cold days of winter. It is now categorized as a type of depression according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, Fifth Edition, DSM-V.
Those depressing symptoms can wreak havoc on health and social life of an individual. The exact mechanism behind those low moods during winter are not well defined but scientists believe low serotonin levels in the brain might be the culprit.
Though severe at times, the symptoms of winter blues subside gradually with time. As the light becomes brighter with the beginning of summer, mood lifts are seen in most of the individuals.
There is no universally accepted treatment for winter blues as many still do not consider this as a pathological condition or a separate disorder. However, measures like Bright Light Therapy, Outdoor activities, balanced diet, exercise, and music seem to ease unpleasant symptoms.
I myself go through these symptoms during dark and gloomy days of winter. Winter is not a beautiful time, at least for me. But no one can beat Mother Nature and nature has its own ways to lift our moods.
So, get up, run, sweat it down and bring the smile back to your face.
Happy Winter.