Provide light and movement
Leaves in the most beautiful colors, turbulent storms: autumn brings all kinds of things. This is the time to build up extra resistance, so that the flu and colds have less chance later on.
The fitter you are, the better you resistance. To avoid an autumn cold, it is therefore important to keep moving, even in the fall. Moreover, when you exercise you produce the happiness hormone serotonin, which reduces the chance of an autumn dip. Lots of daylight does that too, so moving outside is the best.
dip?
Do you feel tired and gloomy as soon as the first leaves change color in September? Do you get an enormous appetite and do you actually want to sleep all day? There is a good chance that you have a seasonal affective disorder (SAD), an autumn or winter depression. About 480,000 Dutch people suffer from it. Another 1.3 million people have a autumn dip, with similar but milder complaints.
Remarkably enough, women suffer from it more often than men; even four times as much. This probably has to do with (fluctuations in) the female hormones. After the menopause, the risk of seasonal depression decreases again.
Fighting autumn blues
- Provide a well-lit living and working room.
- Take a walk every day. Preferably in the morning, because that is when the light is at its strongest.
- Physical exertion promotes the production of serotonin, the substance that makes you feel happy. So move!
- Don’t give in to the need to sleep during the day. If you do, the sleep-wake rhythm will be disrupted.
- Eat less carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes). Too many carbohydrates make you tired and that makes you gloomy again.
- Bring structure into the day. Getting up, eating and moving at fixed times may give the biological clock a push in the right direction.
light therapy
If the depressive autumn symptoms persist, then light therapy often a good solution. Patients are exposed to a daylight lamp for 45 minutes every day during a working week. The result is impressive: 70 to 80 percent are completely rid of the complaints. Ask your GP for a referral.
If you are considering purchasing a special light therapy lamp, do this in consultation with your doctor. In some people, the lamps can make the complaints worse. For example, people with a mood disorder can become manic due to light therapy. In addition, some diseases, such as diabetes, make the eyes extra sensitive to light, possibly resulting in damage. The same goes for certain types of medications, such as antidepressants and some antibiotics.
Sources):
- Plus Magazine
