The Mood-Lifting Summertime Sun!

"It [summer depression] certainly deserves more study, certainly deserves more concern."

"The summer ones [symptoms] were in many ways the opposite [of winter depression. Not that hungry, less appetite, insomnia [in comparison to oversleeping, overeating and feeling sluggish with winter SAD]."

"They say constant heat, or I can't stand the light. I've had people say that the light kind of cuts through me like a knife, I can't stand it. And bright light actually can predispose to mania."

"We have these homeostatic or self-adjusting mechanisms. But clearly in some people, they don't work as well as in other people."

People need to be aware that suicidal feelings are more common. they should go get help if that's happening."

"One value of knowing when people get depressed is you can anticipate it and preempt it to some degree."

Norman Rosenthal, psychiatrist, Georgetown University School of Medicine

 

"Recognize it's not all in your head. It is a real thing."

"[Why some people are more vulnerable to summer depression is] the million-dollar question."

"[Some key neurotransmitters involved in regulating body temperature like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, also regulate mood]. So maybe it's a shared vulnerability to a mood disorder and an issue with the ability to thermal regularly in response to heat and humidity."

Kelly Rohan, professor of psychological science, University of Vermont 

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Everyone has head of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and links it indelibly to the winter blahs, but how many of the public have any idea that heat, humidity and pollen appear to be the credible cause of summer sadness? As a condition, summer depression has received vanishingly little research attention, much less general awareness. The symptoms of each, winter and summer SAD are both marked by sad mood and reduced pleasure.

Summer depression appears to back a more agitated depression, with those affected tending to feel more distressed than lethargic as manifested in winter depression. Summer depression also appears to lead sufferers to an increased risk of suicidal behaviour that peaks in late spring and early summer, but recedes in winter. Experts hazard the guess that patients with depression who feel suicidal in winter may lack the energy to plan for suicide.

Dr. Rosenthal's book, Defeating SAD? A Guide to Health and Happiness Through All Seasons, soon to be released after publication provides an up-to-date, concise description of SAD along with practical strategies to counter the malady. More heterogeneous and varied in nature, Summer SAD makes it more difficult for researchers to study, and so there has been less research on summer seasonal affective disorders since it was first described by Dr. Rosenthal and his associates.

In a Danish study with 2,819 subjects, about 0.1 percent met the criteria for summer SAD. Summer's distinct environmental features of heat, humidity and pollen are believed to be SAD-causative. Heat and humidity are unpleasant and the summer sun's intense light may be activating on sensitive people in a negative manner. Higher rates of suicide in the U.S. and Mexico have been linked to higher temperatures. Social media posts attest to an increased use of depressive language.

In the spring and summer, pollen counts are higher and also may be contributing factors to summer depression. A study in 2019 of 1,206 Old Order Amish found high pollen days corresponded with poor moods in those who generally experienced worse summer moods. An immune response and inflammatory processes caused by allergies may also contribute to depression, given studies that have found evidence that allergies are associated with higher odds of depression.

A study survey of 1.9 million Americans found higher temperatures eroded mental well-bring, with negative emotions and fatigue increasing as temperatures moved above 21C, while positive emotions were on the decrease. The internal environment's response to environmental stressors are clearly at play. Although no clinical trials have tested the method, cooling off may be useful. Patients with summer depression are urged to take cold showers and remain in air-conditioned environments.

Dr. Rosenthal has found that these simple interventions work to alleviate patients' symptoms, but their effects last only as long as patients remained cool; once returned to the summer heat, the ameliorating effect dissipates. According to Dr. Rohan, psychiatric drugs that help with major depression can also work for seasonal depression. Combining various treatments; cooling strategies, medication and evidence-based psychotherapy (cognitive behaviour therapy as example) may hold the key to overcoming summer sadness.

 

Up to 30 percent of people with seasonal depression will feel it during summertime, according to one expert.  Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

"Keep up with your exercise. Many studies have found that regular physical activity can help keep depression at bay. So even if it’s getting too hot for your normal activities, find other ways to stay active and head off summer depression."

"Start earlier in the morning or later in the evening, when it’s not so hot. Consider fitness equipment for the cool basement. If an annual membership to a gym is too expensive, consider joining one for a couple of months just to get you through the summer."

Web MD

(Illustration by George Wylesol for The Washington Post)