Seasonal Affective Disorder :: essays research papers

Seasonal emotional DisorderSeasonal Affective Disorder, or tragic, is a common problem of peopleliving in atomic number 7ern United States. People who be affected by this turnovercommonly suffer from depression, lethargy, inability to concentrate, overeatingand weight gain. People from the north tend to suffer more from this disorderbecause of the shortened days. It appears, that due to the want of fair weather some people suffer from these symptoms. The shortened days prevail ahormonal effect on the body that causes these symptoms, and the use of simulated sunlight is the best way to relieve the disorder.It was not until recently that SAD was discovered. It was discovered byPeter Mueller, who was reviewing a case of a 29-year-old woman. He had noticeda pattern, the womans depression came in the winters and left field in the spring.Over the course of years the woman moved from city to city. Mueller noticed,that the farther north she moved the early the depression. Mueller ha d begun tospeculate that the lack of sunlight had contributed to the womens depression.In order to confirm this he undecided the diligent to artificial sunlight. Hefound that over a period of date the patient had recovered from the depression.Today light therapy is the most commonly utilise method in treating SAD.The two hormones that are affected by the sunlight, and are thought to bethe cause of SAD, are melatonin and serotonin. Both of these chemicals areinfluenced by photoperiodism, the earths daily dark-light cycle (Wurtman 1989).Melatonin is the chemical that effects peevishness and energy levels. In the humanbody melatonin is at its highest at iniquity and is lowest in the day. There hasbeen a study done to try if sunlight has a direct effect on suppressingmelatonin. It is known that melatonin levels in urine are five times higher at darkness than they are in the day. It was not until a 1980 study that it was knownthat melatonin levels could be directly suppressed wit h light. In an experiment,subjects were woken up at two in the morning and exposed to a half an hour ofartificial sunlight. The findings were that melatonin levels were greatly returnd. The decline in melatonin usually happens in the early morning, butin a SAD patient this does not occur until about two hours later. In order tosuppress the levels the patient needs to be exposed to sunlight. It is found,that when the patient is exposed to the light there is a significant decrease indepression and the craving for carbohydrates.