Is winter to blame for your bad mood

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Scientists conducted several experiments and found the answer.

Is winter really the cause of depression

Fatigue, decreased concentration and a constant urge to crawl under a blanket with a firm intention not to crawl out until summer are usually supplied in a set. We are used to attributing all these troubles to the end of winter. It turned out that it was very, very in vain.

Seasonal affective disorder is considered one of the many forms of depression. Typically, people suffer from it in the fall and winter. However, the link between the season and depression itself has yet to be proven.

Scientists wereted no time and came to the conclusion that blaming the winter for the whole thing is rather unfounded and even rash. Recent studies challenge generally accepted assumptions about the negative psychological impact of the cold season on humans and provide an unexpected perspective on the existing problem.

The weather can be dank, the sky can be overcast, but this, on the contrary, has a very positive effect on our mood and brain activity.

The first major study was published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, covering clinical psychology. More than 34,000 US adults aged 18 to 99 years old took part in the experiment. The claim that the symptoms of depression are much worse tolerated during the winter months has been questioned.

The experiment was conducted by a group of scientists led by psychology professor Steven LoBello from Montgomery University. Participants were asked to answer whether they had experienced symptoms of depression in the previous two weeks, and if so, why. It is important to take into account that the survey was carried out at different times of the year and this allowed the researchers to study the nature of seasonal changes in the situation.

The results of the experiment were rather contradictory: there was no evidence that depression depends on the time of year outside the window. There is no seasonal effect. Also, neither geographic latitude nor the difference in exposure to sunlight on the subjects plays a role.

The expression "seasonal depression" has been on everyone's lips for a long time and is firmly embedded in our heads.

Every self-respecting person at least once during the winter for a week suffers from a seasonal disorder. Otherwise, winter is not winter either. However, after such research, it becomes clear: you can officially grieve in any of the 12 months.

It is assumed that the following factor influenced the purity of the experiments carried out earlier: attention was focused on those participants who claimed to be greatly affected by the change in mood.

Most of the experiments took place in the winter, so the conclusion was obvious: of course, the depression arose precisely because of the season. This approach was aimed at confirming the existing hypotheses about the seasonal nature of depression.

The beautiful and incomprehensible term "seasonal affective disorder" took possession of the minds of people and spawned an entire industry that revolves around it. Everything is here: pharmaceutical companies and drugs, coaches and mass trainings to combat bad mood.

The fragmentary and inaccurate data associated with the seasonal disorder did not prevent in any way, but on the contrary, even helped people to make an elephant out of a fly. The hypothesis that cold, dark and unpleasant months affect our mood has become the tip of the iceberg. Almost overnight, the following conclusion was drawn: winter also badly affects our cognitive abilities. As a result, the Internet is full of thousands of thousands of articles on how to overcome winter laziness and inertia.

Does the season affect a person's mental ability

This is precisely what the second study was devoted to. It raised the question of the influence of the season on the human brain. It was one of the first studies to try to disprove the assumption that brain function is seasonal and depression rates are higher on cold and dark days.

Neuroscientists from the University of Liege, led by Professor Christelle Meyer, conducted an experiment on 28 volunteers. Young people and girls were in laboratory conditions for 4, 5 days at different times of the year. During this time, they were required to record their observations of their emotions, mood and sleep quality and perform various tasks:

• Checking concentration of attention. It was necessary to press the button as quickly as possible whenever the stopwatch appeared on the screen. The difficulty was that he appeared at different intervals.
• Memory check. It was necessary to listen to a continuous stream of letters and note if the current message turned out to be identical to what was three letters earlier.

After 4, 5 days elapsed, the participants' brains were necessarily scanned. The main goal of the experiment was to track whether the brain activity of the subjects depends on the season.

It turned out that the emotional state of the participants and the level of melatonin did not change significantly depending on the season. This is how the idea that winter has a negative effect on our mental capacity was disproved.

It should be admitted that some seasonal changes in mood were still recorded, but it was not winter that was to blame for them, but autumn. It also turned out that the greatest concentration of attention falls on the summer, while in winter it decreases slightly. With regard to the ability to memorize information, the situation is as follows: best of all we remember something in the fall, and in the spring there are some problems with this.

It would be logical to assume that our brain hibernates for the winter. This makes sense from an evolutionary point of view: when the weather is gloomy and inclement, the brain must conserve resources to ensure its normal functioning. However, the opposite is true.

In the late 1990s, an interesting study was published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. Scientists from the University of Tromsø, led by Dr. Tim Brennan, conducted an experiment on 62 volunteers to test whether the season affects their mental abilities.

Tromsø was chosen because there is a very interesting change of seasons. The city is located 180 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This means that from November to January the polar night lasts here, that is, the sun does not appear at all because of the horizon, and from May to July there is a polar day.

Through a series of tests, the researchers found little evidence for seasonal effects, but those that did appear largely supported the hypothesis that the brain works much better in winter. The "winter" participants in the experiment showed great success in passing the reaction time tests, and also performed better on the Stroop test (you need to read words to yourself, and name the color of the font with which they are written). Thus, it has been proven that brain function improves in winter.

What is the bottom line

Many people do not like winter, especially its end, for obvious reasons: it is cold, it gets dark quickly, and there is little sun. This is why many of us feel miserable and depressed during this difficult time of the year. However, it is sometimes useful to remember that our thoughts determine how we see the world around us. When we are in a bad mood and feel sluggish and overwhelmed, the easiest way is to blame the winter outside the window.

Without a doubt, she often gives us problems. But one thing remains unchanged: it has no harmful effects on our brains. And even quite the opposite - it has a positive effect on him.