Short-Term Lack of Sunlight May Hinder Ability to Think in the Depressed
July 30th, 2009
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
A short period, such as a few days or weeks, without a natural amount of sunlight and exposure can produce a gloomy mood in many people, and some may experience especially low thoughts and feelings during the winter months. But while feeling a little blue when the weather won’t clear up may be common, losing a fair amount of cognitive ability during such periods may seem far-fetched. A new study performed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has found that people who report feelings of depression are likely to become disoriented and experience a drop in memory and other basic cognitive abilities when briefly deprived of sunlight.
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Comments
god i love the sun…not surprised to see these search results
Thank you for that. When I don’t get out much I find my concentration levels dip and I get antsy. I assumed that was more like cabin fever. Having had depression, maybe not! That’s interesting.
I hate waking up to a dull day. It definitely puts me in a bad mood. I think from childhood we are trained to assosciate happy thoughts with blue skies and sunny days.
I have a very good friend who is really dreading the approaching fall and winter because she gets so down in the dumps when the days get shorter. Is there nothing short of moving to sunny Florida that she can do because her moods are terrible when the days get shorter and grayer. No one even wants to be around here veen though we all know that is probably the last thing that she nees. In the summer she is fine but other times of the year really are a big struggle for her.
Bethany, have you shown your friend this article? She might have depression and the seasons make it worse. Encourage her to make a doctor’s appointment.
For SAD if that’s what it is you can buy light boxes that simulate natural sunlight that you sit in front of for so many hours a day. They are not cheap and will be about $120 upwards. Getting out in what little light there is could help too.
Great point- very interesting that light can have such an effect on people whereas I do not feel that the changes of seasons affects me at all.
We actually did an experiment about this in college. We did it on rats and observed they grew dull in activity and cranky in behavior. So I can definitely vouch for sunshine being a big smiley in our days.
I adore being outdoors in the sun. When you’re amongst nature, you can feel a connectedness with the earth spirits all around you. Try falling asleep under a tree for insightful dreams. I definitely am a sunshine person and function poorly when I’ve been indoors too long. Thanks for giving me something to go on.
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