Can you get weather-related depression in the summer? Can you really get any type of depression in summer? Isn't depression caused by bad weather? The label depression', meaning a dip in a surface, has been used by society as well as psychological and medical professions to sum up a whole range of mental states from feeling low and inadequate to feeling unable to engage in social activities. The effect of depression on your life can be invisible to most people, or it can seriously affect the social functioning and activities of your daily life.
Can you get depression in the summer?
Just as
depression symptoms are diverse, so are the possible causes and treatments of depression. While some forms of depression can be triggered by bad weather, other types deny their environment and persist even on bright and sunny days. If you are diagnosed with a form of depression which changes according to the weather conditions, you need to take a course of action which maximalizes your contact with the sun. If however, your depression takes no account of the level of sunshine, you will need a different course of depression treatment.
Can you get Seasonal Affective Disorder in the summer?
No. It's safe to say that this form of depression is mainly governed by the amount of sunlight you are absorbing. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is an extreme form of common seasonal mood cycles, in which depression develops during the winter months. It has been shown that people who live in climates where the winter months are mostly dark, such as in Scandinavian countries, have very high levels of SAD and even suicide during the winter. How seasonal changes cause depression is unknown, but most of the research into mechanisms and treatment has focused on changes in levels of the brain chemicals melatonin and serotonin in response to changing exposure to light and darkness. Of course, if you are a miner and have a job underground and therefore cannot benefit from the natural sunlight of the summer months, you might not be getting your full share of melatonin and serotonin. So, if you are often depressed in the winter, and you suddenly get depressive symptoms in the summer too, chances are the triggers of your
depression are more complicated than you previously thought. That's not unusual. Depression has multiple triggers, just as it has various symptoms.
Can you really get any type of depression in the summer?
Yes. Although non-depressed people would have a hard time recognizing depression in the summer months where everything seems more cheerful, this is when more resilient forms of the disorder can often arise. If you eliminate the lack of access to natural antidepressants in the sunlight from the equation, you are left with several possibilities. The first is that your brain is not absorbing these chemicals as it should. This physical reason for your depression needs the attention of a doctor. The second is that our life situation is overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. This psychological cause needs the attention of a counsellor or psychotherapist. The third is that you are mistaking the symptoms of depression for something else. Of course, if you are in any doubt about depression, try to see a sympathetic doctor about it. On the other hand, fine tuning your lifestyle and making significant changes where necessary can take you onto the path out of depression. Sometimes, you cannot do this on your own. So entrust your problem to a friend or relative, who may be able to coax you out of your difficulties.
So depression isn't caused by bad weather?
These days there are many things that make us say we are depressed: the state of the world, the state of our relationship, the bad weather, our lack of finances. But treat the term with some respect and you will find that most of these phenomena are not true depression. Yes, bad weather can cause a form of depression related to lack of sunlight. But many other types are caused by triggers as yet unknown within our psychological and physical states. Depression is more complex than just looking out of the window. However, the
treatment of depression can involve looking in the fridge. Eat well and consume sufficient vitamins in your fruit and vegetables and you will keep your mental health in excellent condition.
