Fall can be a difficult time of year for everyone. Surely on some occasion you have felt that after the summer weather, your spirits declined in some way.
Something that is usually attributed to changes in routine, returning to work, shorter days… But what is really true in all of this?
As often happens in these cases, different studies have tried to explain the reality behind symptoms that are more common than many people think.
Even that some suffer without even being fully aware that they suffer. The answer has a name and surname: seasonal affective disorder. That’s what science calls it.
This is how your body can respond to autumn
Social engineering seems to be constructed, intentionally or not, to follow a set of customs. After the ease that summer and good weather usually bring, autumn is interpreted by many as “a return to reality.” It is a station with its charms, of course, but also its drawbacks.
With her It’s time to say goodbye to the holidays, terracelight clothing, and start fighting colds, back to school and shorter, sad days. That, precisely, is one of the keys that science gives to understand that you may be down during this time of year: the lack of light.
The time change, without going any further, largely causes the night to arrive earlier, something that may not affect your routine as much, but it does affect your state of mental health.
The scientific explanation is quite simple to understand, and has more to do with the body itself than anything else. Lack of sun reduces vitamin D in our body, and that reduces serotonin and increases melatonin.
What does this mean in a practical sense? Well, it is natural that you have more sleep and a worse mood. Or, at least, that you don’t have as good a mood as the months of heat and sun. And it is not simply a matter of recovering from day-to-day challenges.
What is seasonal affective disorder
Another issue that affects mood in autumn is body temperature. As temperatures drop and there is less sun, the environment is colder and more humid, and your body temperature notices it. For this reason, The body works slower, and this gives rise to certain disorders, both physical and mental.
With all these circumstances on the table, science has given a name to what could be colloquially translated as being down in the fall. He has named it seasonal affective disorder. And the affective thing is not trivial, taking into account the main symptoms that many people suffer due to it.
Among them, depression, lack of energy or insomnia stand out. All of this means that your mood may be affected for a time. How much? That depends on the nature of each person. For some, it’s a matter of days, for others, it can last until spring.
So you already know, If you have ever had the feeling that autumn depresses you, it doesn’t hurt to know that it is not a subjective assessment, but a reality that may affect you, like many other people. There’s nothing strange about it.