Season Affective Disorder and A New Attempt At Changing My Health

Forgive me for jumping out of character and making another random post off topic from the regular but I felt today that this should be brought up!

Seasonal Affective Disorder or (SAD) for short is a temporary condition that affects some people who live in climates where the winter months mean less direct sunlight, and this less vitamin D and the positive benefits that come from the sun.

Most people assume that the only things the sun does is provide a means for the body to create vitamin d, and emits UV radiation, but there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the suns effect on our psychy.

Mood can be negatively affected by the sun to the point of causing a temporary type of depression that plagues many living north of the equator.

The body is a complex machine, and it is believed that things like the visual light stimulation from the sun, the sense of touch registering the warmth of it, and of course the UV radiation activating vitamin d synthesis in the skin all contribute to a complex cascade of neurological firing. This means that your brain actually responds to the stimulation by releasing the happy neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin among other less involved ones.

This regular level of stimulation when lowered by less sunshine and less direct radiation can cause some people to feel glum and can cause this depression.

I definitely can feel the effects of this condition as a Canadian to the point that for the past couple of months I have just dragged through life, letting many things slip from simple stuff like house cleaning to more serious things like not caring to book studio sessions, always wanting to just sit, letting my workout schedule slide, eating unhealthy to cope -- an array of negative responses to this SAD syndrome.

I cannot wait for the spring to finally come full strength so this madness can end and I can wake up feeling fresh and ready to make a difference in the world.

You know, I never really paid attention to these effects over the years, but I literally just realized that this could be what has been happening the past couple months that has made me feel so lethargic and unmotivated to do anything useful.

I think that this condition is almost mythical and is not talked about enough so I wanted to take a few minutes today to bring it up and create a bit more awareness about it so maybe some other people can also figure out that it's happening and know that it's not them causing the issues.

With any "mental condition" if you can even call it that, awareness is the key to not only accepting yourself, but to help realize that it and even if you can't do anything about it, you can then put a name to the problem.

Its like any illness and the very reason we go to the doctor. You can't begin to treat something that you have no idea s taking place.

Certain supplements like vitamin d3 (obviously) but another one called L-Theanine are apparently able to help combat this condition but I have never realized this in myself before so I've never attempted to treat it.

I may have to go out and get some of it and see if it helps.

Or.... The winter could just end and give us all sunshine! That would be even better!

Anyhow, I hope this post may help a single person figure themself out!

Cheers,

Chris