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Avoiding a SAD Winter Vermonters are much more likely suffer from depression during the winter than in the heat of the summer, says Jennifer FauntLeRoy, MD, a psychiatrist at Rutland Regional Medical Center. Then again, even Floridians can suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). No one is completely sure why seasonal depression happens, but it seems to involve the light-sensitive pineal gland in the brain. As the days grow shorter and less light reaches the optic nerve in your eye, the pineal gland releases more of the hormone “melatonin.” Seasonal rhythms caused by the difference in secretion of melatonin can change behavior in humans and other animals. For example, in various species they can reduce reproductive behavior, cause migration in birds, and bring about the impulse to hibernate. “SAD is different than regular depression. It’s like the leftover attempt of the human brain to hibernate,” FauntLeRoy says. “People with SAD tend to sleep more, while other patients with depression more often sleep less. Weight gain is more common with SAD, while depressed patients may lose or gain weight.” |
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