Winter Blues

Woke up this morning to grey skys, pouring rain and claps of thunder; this is the driest part of Europe so when this happens it's quite an event! It reminded me of one of the main reasons that we left Belgium for Spain. We don't actually suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but we did find grey skys and rain depressing at times.

As you may know, SAD, also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter. The symptoms include sleeping too much, lack of energy and a craving for crave sweets and starchy foods. They may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up. One of the causes is believed to be the lack of serotonin, specifically the amount of the enzyme Serotonin N-acetyltransferase.

There are many different treatments but one of the more popular is light therapy where the sufferer sits in front of a bright daylight white lamp for several short periods during the day. This has to be a special lamp as your average flourescent lamp is missing out several colour bands, even so-called daylight white ones.

Well, the sun's coming out now, so I'm off to squeeze myself some orange juice. Our plan for the day is to check out a new Yoga course we've found; it's calledThe Yoga Tutor eCourse. You can have a look yourself by clicking here: The Yoga Tutor