Archives for September 2015

In a world ablaze with artificial light, it’s easy to forget that only a century ago, our ancestors ordered their daily lives according to the rising and setting of the sun. Long, bright days occurred during the season of plenty, and shortening work hours signaled the coming of winter. So when the summer sun falters, it’s no surprise that many people feel a growing irritability, a dipping of spirits, and a darkening of mood.

If you feel a looming depression as the seasons change, consider these 5 all-natural ways to lift your spirits.

Turn Your Face Toward The Sun
The winter blues, or, in its more serious form, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), rarely occurs among people who live within 30 degrees of the equator. If you’re not one of the lucky ones, consider planning an annual mid-winter vacation in tropical climes. It takes at least two or three days of basking to mitigate the symptoms of the blues, but the positive effects often last much longer than the tan.

Bring The Sun To You
Phototherapy is one of the primary all-natural ways to decrease irritability and moodiness—and a lot cheaper than a trip to Aruba. Light boxes that mimic sunshine are available without a prescription and come in different intensities and sizes. Be sure to choose one that filters out UV light and is designed specifically to alleviate symptoms of SAD.

Revel Outside
Physical exercise releases endorphins, which create happy, euphoric feelings. Exercising outside—by jogging, skiing, snowboarding, or hiking—gives you a double benefit because it allows you to soak up what natural sunlight is available.

Live Like It’s The 1800s
Before electricity and gas lighting, our ancestors woke with the sun. Mimic the experience by using a sunrise alarm clock. These inexpensive gadgets, placed bedside, are programmed to slowly increase natural light, which is a far gentler way to greet the world than the abrupt, dissonant blaring of an alarm.

You Are What You Eat
Some scientists postulate that the carbohydrate cravings that people frequently experience in the winter are due, in part, to decreased levels of serotonin in the brain. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, so it can’t hurt to eat foods rich in this amino acid. Fill your plate with whole grains, turkey, eggs, and citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges.

About 10 to 20% of Americans experience a mild form of the winter blues, but around 5% may experience the far more serious seasonal affective disorder. If your seasonal mood changes aren’t helped by the suggestions above, don’t suffer needlessly. Consider consulting a medical professional to talk about psychotherapy and/or medications.

Like most parents, you arrange your world around your children’s needs. You feed them, tend to them when they’re sick, read to them to expand their minds, and then teach them to do these things for themselves so that they may someday fledge into the world as strong, healthy, self-reliant adults.

But is your child emotionally prepared to handle life’s inevitable ups and downs, stresses and demands? Have you taught them to recognize when it’s time to reach out for help? When it comes to teaching healthy ways to think and feel, it’s never too early to start.

Encourage Self-Awareness
Those blue-faced, sprawled-on-the-floor tantrums that toddlers experience are often a result of being overwhelmed by frustration and anger. Teaching your child to acknowledge and identify these feelings is a first step toward healthy emotional awareness. The ability to communicate changing emotions can later help a growing child identify alarming shifts. A teen comfortable with verbalizing her feelings will be more likely to reach out for help.

Encourage Acceptance
Every child is perfect in her own way. But as an adult, you know that perfect doesn’t mean flawless. If you drop an egg, shrug off the mistake, and then clean up the mess, your toddler will model your behavior by accepting mistakes and dealing with the consequences with grace. For a preschooler in the midst of potty-training, witnessing how their all-powerful parent handles little accidents like a broken egg can be wildly reassuring.

Encourage Grit
The world can be a harsh and unfeeling place. One of the bedrocks of lifetime mental health is learning how to handle the inevitable stresses, roadblocks, and disappointments. Your preschooler may not remember the time he didn’t win the lead in the school play, but the lessons you taught him about how to handle disappointment will stay with him for a lifetime. Praise your child for honest effort and hard work, whether or not success follows, and they’ll learn grit.

Encourage Community
A child’s social world begins with the family that makes him feel safe and cared for. That world expands as he makes friends with his peers, which encourages a sense of belonging and trust in others. Having a network of friends keeps a child active, gives him different perspectives on the world, provides resources for advice, and centers him in a community that looks out for one another. Encouraging empathy for others makes for a more emotionally healthy child as well as a wonderful adult.

Children suffer from many of the same mental illnesses that affect adults, but the symptoms often manifest in different ways. One of the best ways for a parent to keep alert for brewing troubles is to become educated about mental health issues. Starting early is the best way to grow not only a healthy body but also a healthy mind.