The Emotional Treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
by www.Sedona.com
Every year, up to half a million people experience a serious type of winter depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Another 10 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population also experience SAD symptoms, but on a milder scale (sometimes called the “winter blues”).
Symptoms of SAD usually appear in late fall or early winter (though it’s possible to get “summer depression” also, which occurs in spring and summer). They involve many of the symptoms of major depression, such as:
- Anxiety
- Sadness
- Loss of energy
- Oversleeping
- Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Social withdrawal
- Hopelessness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Weight gain
- Appetite changes (particularly high-carb cravings)
While the causes of SAD are unknown, it’s thought that this cyclical form of depression could have to do with a disruption to:
- Your circadian rhythm (or internal body clock): This rhythm tells your body when to sleep and wake, but the reduced amounts of sunlight that occur in the winter may disrupt this cycle.
- Melatonin: This sleep-related hormone increases during winter nights, and may be linked to depression.
- Serotonin: This brain chemical impacts your mood, but reduced sunlight during the winter may cause your levels to drop, leading to depression.
How to Feel Great No Matter What the Season
SAD can be a debilitating illness, causing you to withdraw from your family and friends and even making it difficult to complete your daily tasks. That is, until you realize that YOU -- and not the weather -- control your mood.
“When you are feeling controlled by the weather, first acknowledge that it is just a feeling,” says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. “And you can release that down feeling just like any other feeling by simply letting it go.”
Letting go is a natural ability within you that The Sedona Method -- an easy-to-learn technique -- can help you to reawaken. You’ll be able to use The Method on the spot, any time you are feeling the effects of the long, dark days of winter.
“Often we give our power away to external events to make us happy or unhappy,” Dwoskin explains.
“But you can let go of wanting to be controlled by the weather. With The Sedona Method you discover that you are in charge of your own happiness and well-being -- and it is not dependent on anything external.”
Source
MayoClinic.com
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