Time change promotes winter depression

The time change this coming weekend favors winter depression, sleep problems and fatigue.

According to a survey by the German Employees' Health Insurance Fund (DAK), women in particular are reacting to the changeover that takes place this weekend, often with winter depression. Every second woman reacts with tiredness, headache and lack of concentration. According to the DAK, women are particularly affected by this.

Time change next weekend
This weekend (Saturday to Sunday) the time will be set back by one hour. The time change takes place at 3:00 in the morning. Then the clock is reset by one hour (from 2:00 to 3:00). With the change of time, the time of winter is heralded. For shift workers, this means working one hour longer. For late risers that means sleeping one more hour. However, people who usually get up early usually suffer from the changeover. They often have to deal with physical symptoms during the time change. Background of the discomfort is a disturbance of the internal biorhythm. By changing the time this gets out of balance. The increasing darkness in winter also favors depression and depressive episodes.

View of natural medicine
From the point of view of naturopathy, concentration and sleep disorders, general irritability, inner restlessness, tiredness and other, more generalized symptoms are associated with problems of time change. Therefore, the topic of the time change is still controversial among medical and alternative practitioners. Therefore, many health experts consider the time change to be unnecessary and stressful for the human body. Statistically, it should be proven that the intake of so-called antidepressants and sleeping pills temporarily increase in this time window. Here naturopathy offers alternatives in the form of substances such as St. John's wort, valerian, lemon balm, and others. In addition, measures such as exercise and outdoor activities can lead to a healthy exhaustion in the evening, which may have a positive effect on sleep. Other experts advise to sleep „prefetch“, around the so-called „Mini jet lag“ mitigate. Alexander Blau of the Interdisciplinary Sleep Medicine Center of the Berlin Charité advises patients to take light meals, provide sufficient exercise during the day and enjoy plenty of sunlight.

Especially women react with complaints
According to the DAK, especially women with complaints react to the time change. About a quarter of respondents said they were depressed for several days and had difficulty falling asleep. Only 13 percent of men said they also suffered from the change of time. Why there are differences here is still unclear. However, it is likely that men are reluctant to admit that they are also somatically reacting to the change.

Winter depressions often also due to the time change
The time change also favors that it gets dark an hour earlier in the evening. But since most people are bound by work, everyday life and education to the same time sequence, it comes through the experienced darkness in the morning and in the evening to so-called winter depressions. Many go to work in the dark in the morning and return from work in the dark in the evening. This affects many people visibly on the mind. Physicians speak in this context of a "Seasonal Dependent Depression" (SAD). Due to the lack of sunlight, the body produces less serotonin. The hormone is responsible for the positive mood of people. In contrast, melatonin levels increase due to darkness. This hormone is responsible for the control of sleep. This is why many people complain of increasing or chronic fatigue during the winter months.

Encounter winter depressions with light and colors
Helpful in winter depressions are light, exercise in the fresh air and natural home remedies for winter depression. In order to boost the production of serotonin hormones, it is especially important to spend a lot of time in the fresh air with plenty of sunlight. Warm and exhilarating colors can partially replace the missing sunlight in your own home, be it as a piece of (wallpaper) wallpaper, in the form of bed linen or colorful curtains. In health food stores and health food stores, you can buy bath products in your favorite colors and color your bath water as you wish. Also in the kitchen, the domestic color therapy can be used. Further stimulating and mitigating tips you read in our article "home remedy for winter depression". (sb, 27.10.2010)

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Picture: Simone Lademann