My Seasonal Affective Disorder

Author's Note:
Since the original publication of this post, some scientific consensus has developed regarding the link between Vitamin D deficiency, brain chemistry and mood disorders.  A combination of adequate Vitamin D intake and blue light box therapy may be the most effective means of combatting SAD in addition to other general health maintenance measures.

It's no surprise that many people who live in Northern climes suffer from sunlight deprivation in the Winter. If you happen to work day shifts you may only catch glimpses of the sun rising and setting, or never see the sun at all depending on your latitude. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is essentially unheard of in those who live near the equator indicating its strong link to lack of daylight exposure. Unfortunately normal indoor lighting is simply not intense enough to have the desired positive physiological effects that sunlight does.

Depression has stalked me off and on for years - negatively impacting relationships, productivity and peace of mind, but I know it has taken a much greater toll in others. I have a close friend with a severe affective disorder dominated by depression who is unable to work, relies on a subsidized income, and has become alienated from family and friends. At his worst he has suffered hospitalization, and bouts of electroconvulsive (shock) therapy to regain some grip on reality and his moods. Obviously, severe depression or SAD can have terrible consequences including suicide, and so we should take every measure to adequately treat milder forms and prevent their progression.

It took many years to realize that my worst bouts of depression were usually in the winter, and more specifically the month of November. Of course SAD explains this pattern nicely. The onset of this SAD is so rapid that within a few days I can go from highly functional to a fairly depressed state as though the shrinking daylight in the fall suddenly triggers a switch in my brain. Fortunately my sister convinced me to start taking antidepressants during one severe November episode a few years ago, and after a few weeks I felt better than I had in years. After being on the drugs for a year or so I decided to stop them because of the side effects, and decided to try other measures to combat depression. Having said that I wouldn't hesitate to use antidepressants again if an episode of depression became too severe, or didn't respond to other measures. My depressive episodes have also been linked to a mild obsessive compulsive disorder, and that also improved with the medication, but again I sought other methods to deal with that. Through better understanding of these conditions, I can now effectively fight off the blues and OCD by getting proper rest, using cognitive behavior therapy, staying active, seeking good nutrition, and more recently by employing blue light therapy to combat SAD. If I am disciplined enough to use my light box regularly at the first signs of SAD I will experience a definite improvement in mood.

Of course like most treatments there can be side effects to light therapy as well(Saeed and Bruce):

Photophobia (eye sensitivity to light)
Headache
Fatigue
Irritability
Hypomania (a mental state characterized by excessive excitability, optimism, hyperactivity, talkativeness, heightened sexual interest, quick anger and irritability and a decreased need for sleep)
Insomnia (if light therapy is used too late in the day)
Possible retinal damage (though this side effect has not been proven)

Despite these considerations I prefer to use light therapy rather than travel the road back down to taking antidepressants again. If you have free time during the day, then going for a walk of reasonable duration is a good alternative to using a light box. If you experience significant "winter blues" that might be related to SAD you should seek a medical opinion. If you are diagnosed with SAD, then your purchase of a light box to treat it might be one of the best investments you ever make. Not all light boxes are created equal though, and you should consider blue spectrum 470 nanometer LED lights as they are probably more effective while using much less light intensity than full spectrum boxes (easier on the eyes with less side effects).

Tags:
Seasonal Affective Disorder, Depression, Light Therapy, Antidepressants, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Show Me The Money!

Captain Kirk where art thou? Bill Shatner of Star Trek fame kicks off his debut as a game show host tonight on Show Me The Money. I'm actually watching this cheesy new version of "win a million bucks" right now as I type. There's a lot of scantily clad ladies in red dresses dancing on cue in unison during the show, and Bill seems to be having a good time as host - cracking jokes and doing some goofy dancing himself. The Contestants have to correctly answer six questions while building their booty of winnable cash with each correct answer or losing sums with incorrect answers, blah, blah, blah. It's like a weird mix of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Deal Or No Deal. Beam me up Scotty! Maybe to a galaxy far, far away where they haven't invented game shows yet, or cheese. Where the hell is Spock anyway?

Tags:
Captain Kirk, William Shatner, Game Shows
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Too Much Anger?

Not to state the obvious, but it seems that uncontrolled anger is often involved when we get ourselves into serious trouble. Many years ago I stupidly "flipped a bird" at a crazy driver who was dangerously tailgating me - whereupon he proceeded to chase me erratically for forty miles down a highway (no cell phone to call 911). He tried to force me to the roadside where I suppose he was going to inflict some kind of injury. When he was close enough for me to see him his head seemed to be the size of a beach ball accentuated by a broken nose, and my instincts told me that he would enjoy a fight. By using his car like a weapon, and acting psychotic I wasn't about to engage this creep who may have carried some sort of weapon. That was one of the more frightening incidents in my life, and all because I couldn't restrain myself from using a silly one finger gesture towards an ignorant driver.

I recall playing golf one time during a frustrating round, and after chunking a ball off the tee into a water hazard I hurled my errant golf iron into said water hazard. My iron would never have reached the hazard under normal circumstances, but the extra anger adrenaline resulted in a mighty heave. After fishing around for the iron a while, and not finding it, I proceeded down the fairway. Later, I happened to look back toward the hazard to see some young hooligans pulling my iron out of the hazard, and running gleefully into the woods with it. At least that silly episode only cost me embarrassment, and the cost of replacing a golf club.

On one occasion in an airport after returning from vacation my wife and I were confronted with a rude customs officer. I made a sarcastic, angry remark after one of his questions rubbed me the wrong way. He then proceeded to make us open all of our luggage, and go through each of our vacation purchases in painstaking detail ultimately deciding to charge us duty because by his estimation we had exceeded our exemption. My wife gave me a look that would have frightened a jedi knight as once again my anger had created an avoidable situation.

These situations were minor compared to other life changing events that may have been compromised by my foolish anger. I am sure others can recount similar experiences in their lives, and perhaps some that resulted in dire consequences. Of course knowing this doesn't make it any easier to control rage, but who would disagree that we could all live longer, happier, and healthier lives by keeping our anger in check, and learning how to release it in a measured fashion? There is significant research evidence that being an angry or hostile person puts your heart at risk.

There is an excellent web site that discusses anger, anger management, and strategies to keep anger at bay called Controlling Anger.

Tags:
Anger Management, Anger, Golf, Rage, Self Improvement

Shoot Your Television

Too much bad television? Take the TV outside and give it a thrashing, or better yet give it the Dirty Harry treatment. Just go ahead and Kill your Television! Most of us watch too much damn TV - it's the opiate of the masses, and Big Brother couldn't be happier. Of course televisions have morphed into PC and MAC monitors in case we prefer a more interactive video stream. How many of us have the courage to unplug any of these devices for even a few days, excluding the odd Luddite amongst us?

This video shows you what happens when a television screen is shot, and tells you how a TV works all at the same time. Is it legal to shoot a television?



Tags:
Television, Media, Big Brother

Nuke Pluto

Pluto? It's probably too far away to "nuke", but that might end the controversy. Why do we care whether it's a planet or some useless piece of asteroid floating around the edge of our solar system? Just because a few astronomers are getting all hot and sweaty over the Pluto controversy does it have to be plastered all over the net like some kind of space virus. It's not as if we don't have enough things going down on planet Earth to worry about - wars, famine, pestilence, pollution - real issues that require serious attention. How about Mars? We don't hear much about Mars these days. At least there might have been life on Mars, and a few NASA types are talking about Terraforming the planet in a few decades. That way when Earth is no longer habitable we can re-populate the Red planet, and start the whole damn thing all over again. I say more Mars less Pluto - how about you?

Tags:
Pluto, Planets, Mars, Nuke

Tiger Roars Again!

Tiger Woods is the best athlete so far in the Twenty First Century. As everyone in the golf world knows he won his twelfth major golf championship today after dominating the field through eighteen holes of the PGA tournament. His combination of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual focus along with immense innate talent give him a unique stature in the world of sports and golf - the most difficult, pressure packed sport to master ever devised. His late father Earl seemed to have precognition of this talent, and his future accomplishments soon after Tiger was born. Even if you know little of golf you must take the time to watch this phenom in his prime as he closes in on the supreme golf record of Jack Nicklaus who holds the most professional major victories of any golfer. My prediction is that Tiger will surpass Jack's record by the year 2011 or by Tiger's Thirty fifth birthday. After that this prodigal ambassador of sport with his multicultural background, and native intelligence could look towards becoming a dominating political figure - maybe President of the United Nations? Let there be no doubt - Tiger is above all a humanitarian, something his father Earl taught him well. He is a reluctant hero, but that is his mantle nonetheless. We will watch in awe as you shoot for the stars Tiger. Go get em.

Tags:
Tiger Woods, Golf, Sports, Champions, Heroes

Speaking Soprano

It's true, I happen to like watching the Sopranos along with a few other million fans. I'll admit that it's a guilty pleasure considering how often the show depicts the worst in human nature - portraying graphic scenes of violence and other sordid activities. Not to mention that most of us would consider organized crime a blight on society. The show seduces its fans with tremendous acting talent, clever plot lines, and great production skills. Viewers are compelled to believe that they are watching the reality of a mafia family - who seem to have the same problems and issues as the rest of us. The frustrated Joe viewer can live vicariously watching Tony take out a malcontent, or seeing him punch out his bartender for making a silly comment - behavior that would never be tolerated in most circles even though we might occasionally fantasize about acting out vengeful thoughts.

It's difficult to speculate what kind of negative or positive spin off effects watching the Sopranos might have on viewers and society in general, but there is one influence of the show that I do suspect. Has anyone else noticed the number of F-Bombs that bombard many conversations these days? Yuppies, professionals, blue collar, white collar, men, and women all peppering their talk with the F-Word. Yes, I too am guilty of this to some extent, and I blame it on the Sopranos. For those who happen to watch it, the show gives the F-word a kind of cachet, and celebrity status - like you really mean business, and people should damn well listen to what you're saying if you sprinkle a few *ucks into the conversation. This can't be a good thing for the English language or your spirit, so from now on I am going to do my damnedest never to use an F-bomb again! Wish me luck - I don't think it'll be easy, at least not until that last Sopranos episode has aired.

Tags:
Sopranos, Swearing, F-bomb

Get a Diagnosis!

How many of us go through life with undiagnosed ailments and conditions that impair our ability to achieve success, participate in activities, or enjoy life to the fullest? All of the incredible medical knowledge, and therapeutic advances are of no avail to those who are not diagnosed, and unaware of what ails them. Of course those who have more severe forms of a disease are likely to be detected, and those with severe symptoms are more likely to seek medical care.

What we are speaking of here is the iceberg effect - a large pool of undiagnosed patients who remain that way because their symptoms are less severe, atypical, or nonspecific, and subsequently the appropriate investigations are not done, or current diagnostic methods are not sensitive, or accurate enough to detect early, mild, or atypical disease even if the person decides to seek out medical care. Even a very astute, thorough Physician will have difficulty reaching a diagnosis when someone presents with an early, or less pronounced form of many diseases. Of course as medical science progresses, and diagnostic tests improve more of these diagnostic dilemmas will be solved just as the history of medicine tells us. Full Story

An example of this would be diagnostic advances in the diagnosis of Celiac disease - a potentially debilitating gastrointestinal disorder caused by immune sensitivity to gluten, a protein that is found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye. The mucosal cells (villi or lining of the small bowel) become inflamed, damaged and dysfunctional usually causing some degree of malabsorption along with symptoms of fatigue, pain, bloating, and often diarrhea. In the middle of the last century the only definitive way to diagnose Celiac disease was a small bowel biopsy - an uncomfortable invasive procedure. In the last decade or two highly specific blood tests have been developed that can diagnose the condition - possibly followed by biopsy for confirmation. Despite a simple, ready method to make the diagnosis, Celiac disease demonstrates the classic iceberg phenomenon. Most people who have the condition remain undiagnosed because they do not present in a textbook fashion with signs of advanced celiac pathology, and the patients physician sees no reason to order the necessary blood test. Fortunately, in recent years the tide is changing as more Physicians understand this iceberg effect, and increase their vigilance while lowering their threshold for investigation of Celiac disease.

The implications of this are enormous as there can be tremendous long term physical and psychological health improvements for a newly diagnosed Celiac patient who adopts a gluten free diet. These patients may experience significant improvements in their health within weeks or months of going gluten free. Many other undiagnosed conditions could have a similar iceberg profile, and your symptoms may be related to a pathologic state that is submerged below the surface as well.

If you happen to fall into this category what are some options?

Avoid any obvious causes of poor health such as smoking, over eating, lack of sleep etc. that might obscure and adversely affect an underlying disorder.

Don't assume that you are a Hypochondriac. Of course a Hypochondriac may constantly seek medical care for suspected undiagnosed ailments, but at some point such individuals will usually be diagosed as such. Of course the Physician could well be dealing with a Hypochondriac who also has a diagnosable physical ailment. These considerations are beyond the scope of this post.

Never assume that your poor health or lack of well being is not due to a medical condition that can be diagnosed and treated.

Educate yourself through reliable sources as to what might be the medical significance of your complaints.

Make sure that any Physician or Health care expert you consult has the necessary expertise in relation to your symptoms and signs (although this determination may be difficult).

You may have to consult with more than one Medical Specialist for a diagnosis to be reached.

Maintain hope for the future - you may get a diagnosis sooner than later.

Tags:
Diagnosis, Celiac Disease, Health,
Gluten, Iceberg Effect

Rock On Bloggers!

Seasons under the Sun still has a pulse!

The publishing coma is starting to reverse, and the prognosis is improving with new articles and posts to come. For those of you who have supported this site through your blog rolls, subscriptions and various links I thank you wholeheartedly. The legions of honest, helpful, and inspiring bloggers far out number the few trollers and flamers that I have encountered on this journey. At the peak of interest in this site, Seasons achieved a Technorati ranking of better than 200,000 within a few months of inception. For those of you struggling to improve your ranking, or who even care about such things, I would be happy to outline the steps I took to achieve this minor success. On the flip side, I also have some recent insight as to how you can fade away quickly as a blogger, and watch your ranking drop like a stone (i.e. don't post, don't leave comments, don't submit articles etc.). None of this speaks to the fact that blogging can be a rewarding, exciting, educational, humbling, and inspirational endeavor regardless of any preconceived notions of success. Just blog to the best of your abilities, and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Tags:
Bloggers, Technorati, Blogs, Blogging, Success

How to Drain your Brain

Avoid getting sleep at all costs. Studies have shown that significant sleep deficit results in mental impairment similar to intoxication along with a decline in motor skills.

Eat a lot of junk food with high fat and sugar content, and avoid fruits, vegetables, fish, and other "brain" foods.

Never Exercise, otherwise you will experience the benefits of better blood flow to the brain along with improved Neuronal metabolism.

Don't try and learn a new skill or challenge yourself in anyway, or you might stimulate the growth of new neural connections.

Avoid difficult games, problems, and puzzles - that way your I.Q. will stay the same or decline over time.

Accept the status quo at work and in life to keep the creative side of your brain dormant.

Abuse drugs, alcohol, or other substances to keep your brain cells suppressed, and eventually damage them permanently.

Let your emotions run wild - especially anger. Such highly charged states are not conducive to good mental function.

Never look for more than one solution to a problem - that way you won't have to engage too many neurons in the task at hand.

If you follow this advice you will experience the down side of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) - something smart people say when they are over thinking a problem, except in your case you will actually be stupid and simple :-).

Tags:

Brain Drain, Intelligence, I.Q., Neurons

Smell-O-Vision Cinema Again?

In the ever competitive world of movie making you often need realism and visceral appeal for success. Despite the present special effects wizardry, high definition images, and computer animation many movie goers are anticipating even more virtual reality effects. One of these "new" cinema sense experiences recently introduced into some Japanese movie theaters is dubbed Smell-O-Vision. "The scents will circulate through the theatre via machines filled with fragrant liquids located under the back row seats". At first whiff this seems like a novel idea. However, it was attempted a few decades ago.

"Todd's 1960 film Scent of Mystery (1960) delivered scents to the audience throughout the film using a more advanced process called "Smell-o-vision". Problems propagating scents in synch with the film and flushing the scents out between each showing led to Smell-o-vision's early demise." -via Wikipedia

In view of that historic failure I wouldn't be rushing out to buy shares in Smell-O-Vision companies quite yet even if the technology has improved. Full Story

Let's see...

Certain odors can cause nausea and wretching in some poor souls. Will the theater supply barf bags?

Many of the chemicals that create odors and scents are associated with allergic reactions - hopefully nothing that requires a paramedic in the theater or a syringe of adrenalin on standby.

As alluded to earlier - how will the scents be cued up to match the movie scenes and then dissipate quickly enough for the next scene? There could well be a peculiar mixture of odors wafting around the theater half way through the movie.

Who the hell decides what romance, love, joy, fear and anger smell like anyway?

You might get away with scents for flowers, food, coffee, etc. even if they are mixed in with the waft of stale, buttered popcorn, but how many will leave the theatre saying - "boy smelling that coffee Brad Pitt was drinking was an academy award moment".

What about some of the nasty odors that life conjures up? For the sake of realism do you want to smell smog, stale urine, dead bodies, formaldehyde and other nasty nasal delicacies while you relax in the cinema?

There might be a small benefit for some - the local cinema could actually become the ideal public place to pass gas without embarrassment - if you time it right.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and predict the early second demise of Smell-O-Vision for this decade at least.
Tags:
Smell-O-Vision, Cinema, Scents, Movies, Virtual Reality, Humor