The problem of depressive disorder in summer is most pressing for residents of countries located close to the equator. However, residents of other countries may also not be impressed by the many colors, upcoming travel and vacations during this period, since under the influence of certain factors they have developed summer depression.
Experts associate this affective disorder with changes occurring in the environment and people’s readiness for them. As the weather warms up, people may experience increased anxiety and irritability, indicating this type of depression.
Why summer depression occurs ↑
Despite the fact that summer is the brightest time of the year, when there are so many opportunities for relaxation and entertainment, some people remain dissatisfied, which is why they become despondent.
What can cause a bad mood:
- Malaise . There is a category of people who cannot tolerate heat well. They are forced to stay at home from dawn to dusk. If they cannot escape the sweltering heat, then at the end of the day they experience fatigue, irritability, weakness, and drowsiness.
- Dissatisfaction with your appearance . A minimum of clothing reveals some areas of the body. And if it is not in ideal condition (in personal opinion), embarrassment, congestion appears, and mood deteriorates.
- Envy . It often seems to a person that everyone around him is relaxing and having fun. He is alone, busy with work and daily affairs.
- Waiting for a miracle. This is especially true for romantics, because summer, in their opinion, is the ideal time to find your destiny. And the closer the end of the season, the more depressing the situation.
- Children's holidays. Parents who have schoolchildren or students in the summer have many more worries on their heads. Now they will have to plan their day differently, think about what to do with little children, who to give them care for, what activities or work to provide for adult children, etc.
- Bad memories . They may be associated with the loss of a loved one, unhappy love, bad experience in some business, etc.
- Lifestyle change . Scientists have repeatedly proven the usefulness of an established daily routine, diet, and sleep time. In summer everything changes. Especially among young people and gardeners and gardeners.
- Diets and gyms. The body is already exhausted by the heat, but some people unconsciously try to further deplete it in such ways.
- Sharp increase in expenses . Summer is a time for relaxation, entertainment, gardening, construction and repair work and many others that involve costs. Not everyone can control the outflow of money correctly. And sometimes it’s a pity that I’ve been saving for several months.
- Job . You have to get up early in the morning and come back late in the evening. After that, time is spent on business. Because of this, a person often begins to feel like summer is passing him by.
Are you afraid to be left without communication? Find out how to prevent depression from loneliness. How is depression diagnosed in children? Read the article.
Causes and signs of depression in summer.
Girls and women most often suffer from depressive disorder. There are many different factors that lead to summer depression. Californian scientists noted that there are people who are predisposed to depression; they are easily affected by various factors.
Climatic and weather conditions
Some people like to lie down and sunbathe for a long time on the beach, while others cannot stand the heat at all, so they try to hide at home under the air conditioning. This is a big mistake! Fresh air is essential for proper brain function. When the heat subsides, be sure to go outside and admire the bright colors of summer.
According to research by modern scientists, summer depression occupies a special place among affective seasonal disorders. Its difference from winter and autumn depression, when the desire to sleep is literally consumed, lies in increased excitability.
Depression is not only a permanent human condition, but also a periodic phenomenon. This is similar to an allergy that occurs during a certain season of the year, when, for example, flowers bloom.
Depression occurs in the summer, which is puzzling because of the seasonality of its occurrence. The causes are difficult to identify; symptoms include irritability and nervousness.
What to do about summer depression? How to deal with it will be discussed in the online magazine psytheater.
A healthy person can experience depression. This does not mean that urgent medical attention is needed. However, you shouldn’t let a bad mood take its course.
In some cases we are talking about the natural state. A person cannot be in a good mood all the time.
Sometimes a nostalgic mood sets in, sometimes something upsets you so much that it bothers you for several days. It is quite normal for a healthy person to fall into a depressed state during the warm sunshine and summer holidays.
It becomes pathological when it lasts for a long time.
Why does depression occur in the summer? This is another mystery of the human soul that needs to be understood.
What is summer depression?
You can see the decoding in the title itself. What is summer depression? This is an affective seasonal state that manifests itself in the summer with all the symptoms inherent in depression.
Often observed in residents living close to the equator. Despite the fact that many people look forward to summer due to the arrival of warmth, hot sun and the riot of colors of nature, for some this season can cause depressive disorders.
It is difficult for specialists to identify specific causes of summer depression. Many are inclined to believe that this is due to increased humidity and the arrival of heat.
Summer depression differs from other seasonal depression (autumn or spring) in that it manifests itself in nervousness and excitability. The summer period requires energy from a person, which he realizes through the state in which he remains.
The peculiarity of summer depression is that it manifests itself during a period of rest, warmth and the availability of natural vitamins. On the one hand, a person has the energy to embody his inner impulses. On the other hand, the individual is in a negative mood, which is further aggravated by the realization that he is not enjoying the summer, but is suffering due to his own internal reasons.
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Causes of summer depression
What causes cause summer depression? There is no clear answer here, since only after a conversation with the client can it be identified. It is only noted that summer depression is typical for residents of tropical and subtropical countries, where it occurs more often than winter depression.
Perhaps this is due to climatic conditions, which become more favorable for the human body in winter than in summer.
Another cause of summer depression may be negative experiences from the past. It is human nature to remember traumatic situations that occurred during one period of the year or another.
If a certain event happened in the middle of summer, during a summer holiday, at sea, etc., then a person may develop an “anchor”, when in the summer he again returns to unpleasant events with memories.
Only a psychotherapist can help eliminate them.
Signs of depression in the summer are not much different from the symptoms of spring or autumn depression. Summer depression is accompanied by melancholy, sadness, repeated attacks of causeless anxiety and restlessness, sleep disturbances or, on the contrary, constant drowsiness, fatigue, and instability of appetite.
However, there is a scientifically substantiated fact that people are susceptible to depression in the summer, the reasons for the development of which are very diverse. At the beginning of summer, many people experience stress from a sharp change in their usual measured way of life during the winter, which can also trigger the appearance of signs of depression.
But, one of the main factors of summer depression is, of course, abnormal heat, which is especially debilitating for those who, for one reason or another, cannot afford a summer vacation and are forced to continue working.
A significant factor is going to bed late (due to long daylight hours, stuffy rooms, late night walks), which most often results in lack of sleep and a feeling of fatigue throughout the day.
It should be noted that inadequate sleep may well cause depression in the summer, as, indeed, in any other season, even for those who are not susceptible to depressive disorder. With a change in sleep patterns, diet also suffers, which also affects a person’s psycho-emotional state.
Theoretical versions of the pathogenesis of seasonal depression are based on the influence on humans of changes in circadian rhythms - cyclical fluctuations in the intensity and speed of biological processes in the body, different day and night. Although all physiological processes have a direct connection with external stimuli, circadian rhythms are of endogenous origin and represent the “internal clock” of a person.
The pathophysiology of the disorder (monoamine theory) indicates dysfunction of neurotransmitters (deficiency of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine). Most experts adhere to the theory that the cause of the disease is the negative complex effect of a lack of serotonin and defects in the circadian systems.
Molecular studies and analysis of the family genetic history of diseases confirm the pathogenetic influence of “negative heredity” factors.
An interesting hypothesis is that winter depression is a kind of “hibernation”, and this decrease in vitality provides women with a significant evolutionary advantage. A depressive state in winter and a subsequent increase in activity in spring and summer significantly increase the likelihood of getting pregnant and giving birth to healthy, hardy offspring.
The results of recent studies put forward a promising hypothesis about the influence of not seasonal, but climatic factors (temperature, atmospheric pressure) on the development of depressive conditions.
Main features ↑
The presence of summer depression can be determined by the following signs:
- fatigue;
- lethargy;
- brokenness;
- irritability;
- drowsiness;
- apathy;
- deterioration of brain performance;
- anxiety;
- desire for loneliness;
- insomnia;
- decreased appetite;
- increased susceptibility to external factors, etc.
Important! However, such signs may indicate not only the summer blues, but also the presence of other diseases and disorders of the body. Everything is very individual.
Features of depression in summer
Summer depression is a mental disorder that is recognized by official medicine. The first pathological signs of the disease appear in mid-summer, their intensity decreases by the beginning of autumn. The problem of this mental disorder is relevant in modern medicine, since researchers have not fully established the causes of seasonal depression.
Seasonal affective disorder is most often diagnosed in patients aged 19 to 35 years. Statistics show that women most often visit medical institutions. Depressive episodes in women in the summer can be combined with hormonal changes, so they manifest themselves as unstable mood, irritability and apathy.
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The disease is also common in men. However, they view turning to specialists as a sign of weakness. Men immersed in work activities do not pay enough attention to their psycho-emotional and physical state.
Depressive disorder has different manifestations and severity of symptoms. Non-drug therapy is often indicated for patients with mild depression. In severe cases, there is a high probability of suicidal or conflict behavior, the formation of alcohol or drug addiction, so treatment is carried out immediately in a hospital setting.
How to avoid. Prevention measures ↑
Make a plan for the day
This is especially true for those who do not tolerate heat well or those who feel that there is very little time left for rest and entertainment every day. You need to write down on paper a real schedule of tasks indicating the time required to complete them (each separately).
Of course, you won’t be able to adhere to it perfectly accurately, but it will still help you: you will begin to plan your day correctly, eliminate unnecessary things, and, if possible, combine actions.
Get ready for hot days. To help relieve the heat:
- air conditioner;
- fan;
- temporary move to another home (to relatives, to a rented apartment);
- constant water procedures;
- minimal time spent in the kitchen cooking on the stove;
- non-hot food, drinks;
- walks in the forest, park;
- getting yourself interested in something interesting;
- reflective films on windows and much more.
Don't forget about the right lifestyle
Despite the fact that the daylight hours have changed, and so have your plans, do not forget about your daily routine, exercise and healthy eating:
- Correct morning: waking up in the early hours (at 6-8 o’clock), active exercises, shower (preferably contrast), breakfast.
- Wrong morning: waking up around lunchtime, after which fatigue appears, reluctance to do anything, and as a result - night insomnia.
Are you having difficulty diagnosing your condition? Learn about the signs of neurosis and depression. What is recurrent fulminant depression? The answer is here.
What is the success rate of treating suicidal depression? Read on.
Take care of your appearance in advance. If you don’t want to wrap yourself in a towel on the beach, burning from embarrassment, actively start shaping your figure in the spring. But always remember that no diet will be as effective if you do not exercise.
How to help a depressed person
But without winter there is no spring, and every test is given to a person so that he becomes stronger and wiser, so that he feels the taste of life and appreciates it. But in moments of depression, it is extremely important that loved ones do not give up, that they react, sympathize, provide help and support.
“I first try to work with depressed and anxious-depressive patients through psychotherapy. I try to find reserves in the person himself, in the family, in changing the circle of friends and redirecting thoughts, to give him something new. Ignite an inner fire in the patient that will help him live and move on. Because neither you, nor me, nor anyone can live without this fire,” shares Roman Vladimirovich.
If a person close to you does not want to see a specialist, but you still see symptoms of depression, try to help him using simple methods. Spend more time in the fresh air, go horseback riding or to the dolphinarium, go on a trip, drink wine, go to the movies. Try to get him to eat more sweets - this promotes the production of endorphins. But if all this does not help, you should definitely contact a psychotherapist.
Advice from a psychologist ↑
- Don't think about others. It only seems to you from the outside that while you are working, others are languishing on the beach, constantly going on exciting trips and constantly getting together in groups for fun get-togethers. When you're having fun, they might say the same thing about you. If you still think that others are having a more interesting time, take the initiative into your own hands and organize a couple of exciting entertainments. Don't forget to take a photo as a souvenir!
- Spend your money carefully. In summer, the budget is significantly saved by reducing food consumption. Taking this into account, calculate how much “free” money you should have left per month. Next, think about how much you are willing to spend on entertainment per month/week. Stick to these calculations, otherwise you will simply end up in debt.
- Don't forget about sleep. Night fun is, of course, great, but you shouldn’t get carried away with it. By going to bed later, you consequently wake up later, which results in improper organization of the day. Eliminate the cause - eliminate the consequence - depression.
- Free yourself from some responsibilities . Perhaps you are burdened by some kind of homework, then find an alternative to it for a while. For example, you can completely calmly refuse to iron certain things for now; the long cooking of borscht can be replaced with a quick salad or okroshka, etc. Then you will have more time to rest. If the reason for your summer depression is related to a certain family ritual (for example, a trip for two weeks to visit relatives), try to refuse it - be a little selfish.
- Don't deny yourself rest and be positive. This is the time for you! As sad as it may be, years pass and opportunities may disappear. Instead of relaxing at home in front of the TV in the evening, go out into nature, to entertainment centers, and get together with friends. Have fun and have fun every day and surprise yourself and your loved ones in the form of an interesting time together.
- Move . If it seems to you that this is unrealistic in such heat, change your views on the very essence.
Remission
The human psyche has an amazing property - it can self-heal as long as the body lives and breathes. With the right approach and treatment for depression, you can quickly learn to live and breathe again. At first hesitantly, then more and more confidently. Then the understanding will come that the “winter of the soul” was needed in order to bring spring and summer back into life, learn to listen to your heart, love simple things, smile at the sun and every new day, enjoy food and communication with your loved ones. Enjoy the little things that you simply didn’t have time for before. Love life in all its manifestations.
Source: posta-magazine.ru
