‘Mother Nature thinks people should shut down’: why we’re so unmotivated in winter | Well actually

In the dark and gloomy February, I was dealing with a lack of motivation. My processor said this was completely normal.

She said, “I just want to stay inside under a blanket in the winter.” She did not bother her because she knew that, came in the spring, and she will feel more motivated. This was actually completely Fruitful For me, then you may not have given it Winter capabilities Enough credit.

The slowdown in the winter is common, especially as it reaches the equator, as the temperatures and day hours differ from winter to the summer. Dr. Paul Disan, Director of the Director winter Depression Research Clinic in Yale.

But why exactly winter makes many of us feel drying and not excited? How do we deal with this? We asked experts.

Why do some people feel less motivated during the winter?

Disan says that the wires that control the human mood is not completely understood, but there is a certain amount of watermelon in the winter is logical from an evolutionary perspective.

“It is clear that the mother nature believes that people should be closed for the winter if they live away from the equator,” he says. “If you are a fisherman’s college, you are likely to be just better to eat a lot, stay at home and rest [in winter]Then, when the temperatures are warm, the days long and the resources are more abundant, our energy returns.

Dr. Jessica Jackson, a licensed psychologist and deputy head of the Development Alliance for the Mental, explains the sun also explains a strong effect on our hormones health America. “When you get daylight in the winter months, this affects serotonin levels, which then leads to a lower mood,” she says.

How do you know if your winter blues is a seasonal emotional disorder (sad)?

Feeling of low energy in winter is common. But how do you know if this is more serious?

“For some people, the seasonal change is great,” says Disan. “It closes their lives, affects their ability to work and focus.”

Disan says that people with seasonal emotional disorder suffer from a clinical depression episode at the same time almost every year. This can appear as a lower mood, low energy, less motivation, sleep and eating more than usual. For those who suffer from sad, these rings usually last from October, November to January or February, then improve the return of the sun in the spring.

SAD affects approximately 5 % of adults in the United States, according to L. American Psychological AssociationAnd about 3 % of adults in the United Kingdom, according to Royal College of Psychologists.

Anywhere from 10 to 15 % of adults may suffer from a seasonal emotional disorder without TROM, Disan says. This includes those who do not meet clinical depression standards, but who suffer from low energy and motivation in the winter.

They say: “I do not accomplish anything in the winter, I must push myself to go to work, and I withdraw from my hobbies,” Dis explains. “Maybe they have no fullness [depressive] An episode, but it still really affects people. “

Don’t heat SAP energy either?

Is winter really more drained than summer? As anyone knows sweating through a heat wave, it can also make you high temperatures that you feel that you are strange and exhausted.

Dr. Kim Midinbauer, an assistant professor in the Washington State Department, says that the heat can “can” weaken the perception, get worse, emotional, increased aggression, and disrupt the necessary brain networks, the Center for Psychology Research and Health Stocks.

Meidenbauer says that the thermal organization – the process with which our bodies try to maintain their basic temperature within a healthy scope – is a “metabolic process.” This leaves less energy to think clearly and pay attention.

Both cold and hot temperatures can affect our ability to think and focus, but our responses tend to be different. “The cold will slow the responses of people, while the heat will speed up them,” says Meidenbauer. Thus, high temperatures can increase the rush, while cold temperatures do not generally do so.

How do you deal with winter blues?

Jackson says the first goalkeeper against seasonal mood changes is awareness. If you know that you tend to feel lethargy in the winter, try building a routine that you can adhere to, even when you don’t want to overcome the sofa. You may usually go to the gym before work, for example, but in the winter, it is better to continue working.

Light therapy has also been found – expose yourself to bright light, which means that 10,000 lux (lighting unit) or more, for half an hour every morning – has been successfully found on both sad and sad sad. “It is a miracle for many people,” says Disan.

Standard for light treatment is to expose yourself to 10,000 lux for 30 minutes every morning using a special lighting box. “You can prepare one of these devices, use them while eating breakfast and reading the paper,” says Disan.

It is easy to find light therapy lamps, but not all of them on an equal footing, warning Disan.

“There is a lot of garbage there is very small or very dim,” he says. “It may be 10,000 Lux, but this only if you put your eyes against it and do not move.”

Effective light therapy lamps are bright enough so that you can sit at the length of the arm from it and still face the benefits.

Experts say that if your mental health deteriorates significantly during the winter season, make sure that a mental health specialist can see “it can conduct an evaluation and identify all the factors that may be related.”