Avoiding Depression With Light

 Depression is much worse in the winter because there is less light. This causes a hormonal imbalance.

You may have seen people on television that get a natural high because they have been living in the far north in the Summer. The amount of light they get around the clock increases cortisol levels from the adrenal gland.

Besides the commonly known effect of increasing your mood, cortisol will also help as an anti-inflammatory. In fact, cortisol is closely related to hydrocortisone that your doctor may prescribe if you have severe inflammation.

Another effect of cortisol is that it increases the ability of the body to resist the problems associated with stress.

As you might imagine, the opposite can be true in the winter when there is little sun. The lack of sun is made more severe because in bad weather, we tend to stay indoors where the amount of sun is even lower.

If you have noticed that you have been getting depressed in the winter, one easy remedy is to increase the amount of full-spectrum light exposure that you have. There are many full spectrum lamps on the market to choose from.

All you need to do is sit in front of a full spectrum lamp for about 30 minutes a day and you will find yourself feeling much better.

There are problems with too much cortisol as well. It can increase the tendency to be overweight and have high blood pressure. Especially in men, this can lead to an increase in heart disease.

Recent studies have shown that women may be more subject to the depression from low light levels and more resistant to the problems with high cortisol. So women as might be expected would most likely benefit the most from exposure to full spectrum light in the winter.

full spectrum light - Google News
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