Coping with Winter Depression

Now that summer is over and the long, cold Canadian winter is fast approaching, many people may start to notice changes in their wellbeing. The "winter blues", also clinically known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), are something many people suffer from. This can include symptoms such as fatigue, depression, body pains and aches and a host of other related symptoms.

We would like to refer you to the article below, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic, which lists some helpful strategies to minimize your susceptibility to S.A.D. and explains how to deal with these "winter blues."
"Light therapy lifts the gloom of seasonal affective disorder"

By Mayo Clinic staff

In the depths of winter, you may turn your face to the afternoon sun, seeking out what little light filters through fading gray skies. You may throw open the blinds, leave lights on throughout your home, or even head South for a vacation - anything for a little more light.
For people with a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder, this need for light takes on greater significance. Light may be instrumental in treating potentially debilitating symptoms of the disorder.

Hope through light therapy
People with seasonal affective disorder have a cyclical type of depression that's most often triggered by the onset of fall or winter, when daylight hours wane. In rare cases, the condition develops during summer months. Signs and symptoms of winter-time seasonal affective disorder can include sadness, sleep difficulties, increased appetite, carbohydrate craving, irritability, weight gain, lack of energy, anxiety and problems concentrating. Symptoms can be severe enough to interfere with your daily activities and quality of life for months on end. You may find your symptoms gradually abating with the arrival of spring, and sunnier, longer days.
But what can you do in the meantime, during those dark days when you can't get out of bed, when you skip work, miss deadlines, overeat, or feel overwhelmed by fatigue or despair? Because symptoms can be severe, don't try to ride them out or treat them yourself. Consult your doctor or a mental health professional for help.

There's a good chance that therapy with specialized lights - not your ordinary living room lamp - will help reduce your symptoms and enable you to enjoy life more again.
Light therapy, also called phototherapy, has been used to treat seasonal affective disorder since the early 1980s, and it has many benefits. It's easy to use in your own home, it usually doesn't have major side effects, it's generally safe, and it's cost-effective. In fact, light therapy is now considered standard treatment for seasonal affective disorder.

For more information about light therapy devices, visit: www.litebook.com. The litebook is also available for purchase at The Pacific Wellness Institute.