14 | Out in the Mountains |0ctober 2000

——-j- health & wellbeingi =——

ALTERNATIVE 101:

 

BY I-IEATHER K. PEAKE

So it hasn’t been much of a
summer in the Green Mountain
State: cool and damp inter-
spersed with periods of hot and
humid. But now that’s over,
and winter is just around the
comer. For some people, that’s
not a comforting realization.

The acronym “SAD”
always struck me as a bit too
cutesy. What we’re talking
about here is week afier seem-
ingly endless week of lethargy,
fatigue, depression and carbo-
gorging... all the hallmarks of
Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Every winter, 10 million
Americans north of the Mason-
Dixon Line face often crip-
pling bouts of the blues.
Another 25 million suffer less
severe, but still life-affecting,
cases of seasonal depression.

Certainly the connection
between season and mood has
been intuitively understood for
centuries—phrases such as
“cabin fever” and “spring
fever” entered the vernacular
long ago—but it has only been
in the last 20 years or so that
science has begun to unravel
the biochemistry that causes
cyclical updrafts and down-
drafts in the human brain.

How it works

A hormone called mela-
tonin, secreted by a bean-sized
gland behind the sinuses, is the
substance responsible for regu-
lating the body’s internal
clock. More is produced at
night, which is probably why
we begin feeling sleepy when
the sun goes down. Some sci-
entists now believe that this
figures heavily into SAD; that
is, it’s not the absence of sun-
light that’s a problem, but the
fewer hours of daylight. The
earlier sunset and later sunrise
tricks the body into producing
more melatonin over a longer
period of time, leaving suffer-
ers feeling like it’s perpetually
llpm.

Because hormone produc-
tion is so individualized, this
would explain why not every-
one living in northern climes
develops SAD. Some people—
and you know who you are—
love winter, finding it an ener-
gizing, rejuvenating time of
year. Women, whose hormones
are constantly in flux anyway,
and those who already suffer
from depressive or bipolar dis-
order, are disproportionately
likely to develop SAD.

I myself had a double

whammy as a woman already
prone to depression. My worst
bout came in 1997; I’d been
moderately depressed all
spring and summer, but still
able to function. Then October
rolled around, and it was like
falling into a huge black pit.
All I could do was sleep and
cry, in cycles of about 14 hours
at a time. Forget functioning, I
could barely get out of bed.
Preparing a meal for myself or
taking a shower constituted a
major accomplishment. By
December, I was blacking out
on long drives along Route 7,
half-hoping I’d hit an errant ice
patch and be permanently
relieved of my suffering.

While my case fell to the
extreme end of the spectrum,
fueled as much by preexisting
problems as lack of sunlight, it
is not atypical.

Recent studies indicate that
people suffering depression
score generally higher on the
Beck Depression Index in the
categories of anger, hostility,
anxiety and irritablity during
the winter months.

If you were feeling bad in
the fall, in other words, you're
likely to feel worse in the win-
ter. And you need to do some-
thing I didn't have the sense to
do: get professional help.
Immediately.

How to deal

I chose the most radical
form of therapy: I moved 2500
miles to the south and west.
During two winters in
Northern Arizona, I haven’t
even had a hint of seasonal
depression. (Of course, I have
become a weather wimp—40
degrees now feels unbearably
cold to me, and like everyone
else here, on the one or two

Tackling the winter blues

occasions per winter when it
actually snows, I go into
immediate hibemation—but it
seems a small price to pay.)

But most people don’t have
the freedom, or even desire, to
uproot their lives just to avoid
the rigors of the Northeastern
winter. For them, light therapy
is the most viable form of treat-
ment.

The use of light boxes to
combat the effects of SAD
began in the early 1980s. The

  

first boxes
were huge,

weighing in at
about 70 pounds
and putting out
about 25,000
lux—lO0 times
brighter than stan-
dard household
lighting. The earli-
est test subjects
were asked to
spend four hours a
day in front of it.
However inconve-
nient the equip-
ment and subsequent changes

in routine, the positive results‘

were undeniable.

Through experimentation,
researchers learned that the
same results could be attained
with less power and less light.
The standard treatment today
is 30 minutes per day with a

(802) 254-8032

Michael Gigante, Ph.D.

Psychosynthesis
Counseling, Psychotherapy, 8 Consultation

53 Myrtle St., Brattleboro, VT 05301
email mgigante@together.net

You may be eligible if you are;

Female Volunteers Needed for a Research Study
at UVM Dept. of OB/GYN, conducted by Ira Bernstein, MD

This study will examine blood flow to the uterus during the menstrual cycle.

- 18-35 years old
0 have regular cycles - have never been pregnant
(26-32 days apart)

- do not smoke

Financial compensation of $400 will be offered for participation in study.

656-2669

I

:_?.:_:_..|

box emitting about 10,000 lux.
Beneficial results have also
been seen by the use of timed
lights, which steadily brighten
a room in a sort of artificial
dawn. You don’t even have to
be awake to feel the positive
effects; the keyis to trick the
body into believing the sun is
on the rise.

Other treatments for severe
cases of SAD include conven-
tional antidepressant drugs,

including lithium, and new, -

highly experimental hormone
therapies, whereby tiny

amounts of melatonin are
injected at regular intervals.

For those suffering just a
minor bout of the blues, some-
timesjust getting outdoors and
trying to enjoy the splendor of
a winter’s day is the best med-
icine.

And remember... spring will
come. At least, it always has
before.V

Susan McKenzie MS.

Licensed Psychologist—Master

 

Experienced therapist specializing in the individual and
relationship issues of Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Quechee
8 0 2 2 9 5 - 5 5 3 3
Insurance Accepted-Sliding Fee Scale

Montpelier
229-5220

insurance accepted

JOSIE JUHASZ, MA

Lic. Psychologist - Master

LYNN GOYETTE, MS, MA

Lic. Clinical Mental Health Counselor

BILL MCBROOM, MSW

Lic. Clinical Social Worker

W

COUNSELING CENTER or NORTHERN VERMONT

Burlington
860-6360

sliding fee scale