How Common Is Winter Depression

Winter depression is the common name for Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is akin to depression, except that the depression is triggered by the change in seasons. A person who is otherwise completely normal can get lightbox symptoms of depression at the same time of the year every year.

Winter Mood Symptoms

The winter mood symptoms start very mild and can progressively worsen until it seems like fully fledged depression. Yet even without any winter mood medication the symptoms can disappear as suddenly as they came when spring sets in.

This winter mood was not even considered how does lircorice affect fertility until the mid 1980s when it started to be classified as a depression symptom. Many people know of and understand the winter mood although consciously they may not think that it is a condition that moods winter mood medication.

Who Is Affected By Winter Mood

In fact in certain regions of the world the winter mood affects quite a large percentage of the population. This is especially true of the countries that are very far North or South of the Equator. The belief that winter mood symptoms are a consequence of a reduction in the amount of sunlight in winter months is substantiated by this fact.

In Alaska for example winter mood affects around 8.9% of the population, while in Ireland winter mood symptoms are displayed by nearly 20% of the population. Even the Dutch are not immune and more than 10% are affected every year.

This pattern is quite common and depending on how north you go, the higher the percentage of people who get affected. The only exception is iceland. All winter mood information shows us that Icelandic people actually display a lesser amount of winter depression than other countries.

Winter Mood Treatment

There are a number of ways of treating this problem. One is to treat it just like depression and go on natural antidepressants for the duration of the winter. Natural antidepressants have however not been found to be very effective, or at least as effective as light therapy. When people who are in the winter mood are exposed to artificial light that has the same visible spectrum as sunlight, they show remarkable improvement in a very short space of time.

There are a number of other winter mood medication that can be used starting from therapy. Depending on each individual, the doctor may prescribe a different approach to treating the winter mood symptoms.

Even natural antidepressant pills have been found to be effective enough in certain cases, and it all depends on the person suffering from the illness.

Winter depression or winter blues as it is commonly known is actually much more common than previously thought. Quite a few people feel down in the winter months, and this is seen in most mammals. Winter mood information says that it is a survival technique that has been bred into us because of the lack of availability of food during the winter months. The depression that affects us should keep calorie consumption at a minimum allowing us to survive through the harsh winter.

The reason why the Icelandic people alone do not have this problem could be due to their huge intake of fish. They consume five times more fish than an average American, and this is supposed to help.

If you feel that you are getting a little too sleepy and lethargic in winter, try and read up on winter mood information. It will help you understand yourself better, and to decide if you need medical help or not.