Spring depression can be the worst of all – The professor advises what to do now – 2024-04-10 18:31:45

The spring light is impressive. Adobe Stock / AOP

Most commonly in spring, the increase in the amount of light makes the mood rise.

– People usually become more energetic and social compared to the winter condition. Mood also rises, sleep improves, appetite decreases, sweet cravings disappear and physical activity increases. Overall, well-being improves.

This is how the research professor of the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) describes the most common effects of spring Timo Partonen.

The light of spring usually causes neurons in the brain to produce a lot of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which has pleasant consequences.

However, not everyone’s brain starts flooding with serotonin in the spring. It shows in the mood. Some people’s mood drops in the spring and depression deepens.

– The body of severely depressed people in particular reacts to increased light in an unusual way, Partonen states.

Light the pain

Spring depression can be a very special form of depression.

– Light can feel like physical pain and cause a restless, restless and anxious state of being, and lead to insomnia and deepening depression, says Partonen.

In depressed people, serotonin metabolism in neurons is often abnormal compared to healthy ones, which, according to Partones, can at least partially explain the abnormal reaction to increased light.

– In addition, it is known that people are different in their sensitivity to light, so the abundant light in spring causes nerve irritation and changes, for example, serotonin metabolism in some people more sensitively, in others less sensitively.

According to Partonen, the background of photosensitivity is not only the multifactorial differences in heredity, but also the differences between people that have formed due to illness.

Spring depression can even be the most serious form of depression. Such an observation has been made in the treatment of patients.

Spring drives to a dead end

According to Partonen, in some severely depressed people, the depressive state deepens especially during the spring, even despite treatment.

– Their body’s reaction to the abundant light in spring is probably strongly abnormal.

– This phenomenon also has a psychological layer. When the vast majority of people feel better throughout the spring, a severely depressed person may think that they are at a dead end when comparing their own condition to others.

The 2023–24 winter season may have seemed exceptionally long and heavy. Even in southern Finland, snow, ice, and frost froze into outdoor conditions long before the turn of the year. There have been enough cloudy days.

According to Partonen, the effect of winter on mood depends a lot on how winter is spent. You can improve your mood by going out and in the company of others.

– Even in the dead of winter, you can keep your spirits up in the company of others and by keeping your daily rhythm regular. Partonen says.

Immediate effect

Although the winter has been long, according to Partonen’s assessment, the average person waiting for the light of spring does not have to recover from it for a particularly long time.

He is not in danger that more people than before could have been trapped in the bottom hole of the winter this spring.

– The abundant light instantly refreshes, says Partonen.

– Now it would be good to be outside or inside by a big window more before noon than after noon. In this way, the internal clock stays in tune better, which results in, among other things, a better mood and more refreshing sleep, advises Partonen.