The Integrative Medicine Approach to Seasonal Affective Disorder

As the evenings grow longer and light becomes in short supply, many people’s mood plummets. If you dread the dark evenings, you may be affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as SAD.

If so, you’re not alone. Read on to discover how Integrative Medicine can naturally help to prevent and manage SAD.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a type of depression stimulated by a lack of natural light in the autumn and winter. If you’re affected, you might feel low, lack energy and feel tired yet unable to get off to sleep. You may crave starchy foods and experience a lack of concentration and motivation along with brain fog. Usually, symptoms become less severe once springtime brings longer brighter days.

What Causes SAD?

Your pineal gland, part of your brain, is sensitive to daylight. Therefore, how much light you are exposed to directly affects your brain chemistry. Natural sunlight triggers the release of serotonin, a substance that elevates your mood ¹. So, once sunlight becomes scarce, your body produces fewer feelgood chemicals.

On the flip side, darkness causes the release of a different brain chemical, melatonin. This is responsible for making you feel sleepy and ready for bed. It’s a key player in your body’s circadian rhythm – your sleep/wake cycle. The darker days of winter can upset this natural cycle, either causing excessive drowsiness or stopping you from sleeping at night.

How is SAD Treated?

Medical antidepressants may help elevate your mood, but they do create side effects for many people. Furthermore, they don’t take away the underlying reasons why you are experiencing low mood.

Light Therapy for SAD

One popular way to combat SAD is by using light therapy. Special light boxes – often called ‘SAD lamps’ emit rays with the same spectrum of light as natural sunlight. The best results seem to be obtained if you begin using your lightbox before you start to experience symptoms, and many people find their mood is lifted within days. However, it’s not a good idea to use your lightbox in the evening, as it will inhibit melatonin release, interfering with restful sleep.

The Integrative Medicine Approach to SAD

Your mind and your body are intricately linked. This means physiological imbalances in your body can affect how you think and feel. Integrative Medicine considers your mind, body and spirit and how they interact.

You might feel that it’s lack of light causing your low mood, but if we delve a little deeper, other aspects, with their roots in imbalances in your body, might actually be the underlying causes. These, when combined with the lack of light, create the feelings of low mood.

Contributing factors might be nutritional deficiencies, hormone imbalances or unhelpful lifestyle habits. These will be different for you than for anyone else because you are a unique individual.

The Effect of Nutrition on Mood

Certain nutrients are essential for healthy mood.

Low levels of vitamin D are linked to depression. It’s often in short supply during the winter as your body needs sunlight to make it. Omega 3 fats, found in oily fish and some nuts and seeds, are used by your brain cells to communicate effectively.

B Complex vitamins, especially B6, are needed to make your brain’s feelgood chemicals.

Magnesium is an essential mineral which tends to be deficient in people suffering from depression ², and it’s thought to play a role in serotonin production.

Gut Health and Your Mood

Functional Medicine believes that the importance of gut health in connection to mood can’t be overlooked. If the resident population of bacteria in your gut are out of balance, they may emit substances adversely affecting mood ³. Therefore, a healthy population of gut bacteria is essential for healthy mood.

Testing your gut bacteria can reveal whether yours might be contributing to your symptoms. Following this, steps can be taken to rebalance your bacterial ecosystem.

Your Lifestyle Can Influence Your Mood

Prioritising regular sleep is incredibly important for good mental health. This means avoiding caffeine after midday and limiting screen use in the evening. The blue light emitted by phones and other devices decreases melatonin release, making it harder for you to drop off to sleep. Establishing a regular sleep routine can help recalibrate your sleep/wake cycle.

You might not feel like exercising, but physical activity releases endorphins, feel-good brain chemicals. Ideally, get outside, so you are exposed to natural light while exercising - even a brief ten-minute walk will help. Yoga combines movement, breath and meditation, so can be beneficial for elevating mood.

The Mind/Body Medicine Approach to SAD

Meditation, mindfulness and breathwork influence your brain’s pineal gland ⁴, in turn affecting melatonin and serotonin levels. Journalling can help keep track of your symptoms and identify triggers, as well as lifestyle pathways to overcome your symptoms.

Meanwhile, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages ‘cognitive defusion’, in other words, separating yourself from your negative thoughts, so can be extremely helpful in cases of low mood.

An Integrative Medicine Approach to Seasonal Affective Disorder

We will investigate what the root causes of SAD are for you personally. Armed with this knowledge, your path to better mood in winter may involve some or all of the techniques outlined above.

With the right tools and support, we can help you make the positive changes your body needs to improve your mood and thrive through every season. If you’re feeling sad, contact us today to start your journey.