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Summertime
Depression
Ah, the joys of summer. The withering heat. School
vacations, when your kids give you minute-to-minute updates on their
boredom levels. Isn’t summer supposed to be fun and relaxing? If you’ve
got summer depression, it isn’t.
For some people, summer depression has a biological
cause, says Ian A. Cook, MD, the director of the Depression Research
Program at UCLA. For others, the particular stresses of summer can pile
up and make them feel miserable. What makes depression in summer
especially hard is that you feel like you’re supposed to be
having a great time. Everyone else seems so happy splashing in the
water and sweating in their lawn chairs. So why can’t you? And more
importantly, what can you do to make this summer easier? Here’s what
you need to know about summer depression.
Understanding Summer Depression
Summertime SAD.
You’ve probably heard about seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, which
affects about 4% to 6% of the U.S. population. SAD typically causes
depression as the days get shorter and colder. But about 10% of people
with SAD get it in the reverse -- the onset of summer triggers their
depression symptoms. Cook notes that some studies have found that in
countries near the equator – like India – summer SAD is more common
than winter SAD. Why do seasonal changes cause depression? Experts
aren’t sure, but the longer days, and increasing heat and humidity may
play a role. Specific symptoms of summer depression often include loss
of appetite, trouble sleeping, weight loss, and anxiety.
Disrupted schedules in summer.
If you’ve had depression before, you probably know that having a
reliable routine is often key to staving off symptoms. But during the
summer, routine goes out the window – and that disruption can be stressful,
Cook says. If you have children in grade school, you’re suddenly faced
with the prospect of keeping them occupied all day, every day. If your
kids are in college, you may suddenly find them – and all their boxes
of stuff – back in the house after a nine-month absence. Vacations can
disrupt your work, sleep, and eating habits – all of which can all
contribute to summer depression.
Body image issues.
As the temperature climbs and the layers of clothing fall away, a lot
of people feel terribly self-conscious about their bodies, says Cook.
Feeling embarrassed in shorts or a bathing suit can make life awkward,
not to mention hot. Since so many summertime gatherings revolve around
beaches and pools, some people start avoiding social situations out of
embarrassment.
Financial worries.Summers
can be expensive. There’s the vacation, of course. And if you’re a
working parent, you may have to fork over a lot of money to summer
camps or babysitters to keep your kids occupied while you’re on the
job. The expenses can add to a feeling of summer depression.
The heat. Lots of people
relish the sweltering heat. They love baking on a beach all day. But
for the people who don’t, summer heat can become truly oppressive. You
may start spending every weekend hiding out in your air-conditioned
bedroom, watching pay-per-view until your eyes ache. You may begin to
skip your usual before-dinner walks because of the humidity. You may
rely on unhealthy takeout because it’s just too stifling to cook. Any
of these things can contribute to summer depression.
What can help you feel better? What can you do to make
this summer different?
Tips to Control Summer Depression
Get help.It’s
simple. If you think you’re getting depressed, no matter what time of
year, get help. Talk to a therapist, like a psychologist or social
worker. Or see your doctor or a psychiatrist who can prescribe
medicines. Never take the signs of depression lightly. Don’t wait them
out, assuming they’ll resolve. Sometimes, what started as summer
depression can turn into a longer-lasting bout of major depression,
Cook tells WebMD.
And even if your depression will resolve in September, that’s no reason
to ignore it in June. We’re talking about three months of potentially
avoidable misery. “A temporary depression can still be pretty awful,”
says Cook. While the symptoms lift in a few months, the impact on your
family and job can be permanent.
- Plan ahead. Cook says there’s one
advantage to a summer depression: you know when it’s coming. June
is right there on the calendar. So if you’re feeling OK in the
spring, think about the specific aspects of your life that become
difficult during the summer. What will help prevent summer
depression? What’s the best way to take time off from work? Would
signing up the kids for summer programs or camp help relieve your
stress? You’ll feel a lot more in control heading into the summer
if you have plans in place.
- Sleep.
Vacations, summer barbecues, the short nights – they can all
encourage you to stay up later than usual. But not getting enough
sleep is a common trigger for depression. So make a concerted
effort to get to bed on time.
- Keep up with your exercise. Many
studies have found that regular physical activity can help keep
depression at bay. So even if it’s getting too hot for your normal
activities, find other ways to stay active and head off summer
depression. Start earlier in the morning or later in the evening,
when it’s not so hot. Consider fitness equipment for the cool
basement. If an annual membership to a gym is too expensive,
consider joining one for a couple of months just to get you
through the summer.
- Don’t overdo dieting and fitness. Don’t
kick off the summer with a frenzy of dieting and exercise in order
to fit into last year’s bathing suit. It’s bound to make you
unhappy and anxious. Instead, exercise sensibly and eat
moderately. If you try an insanely restrictive diet, you probably
won’t be able to keep it up. And that “failure” will just leave
you more demoralized and worsen your summer depression.
- Protect yourself.
Don’t let obligations drag you down. Maybe you always host
the enormous family barbecue on Memorial Day or the July 4 picnic.
But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, give it a pass this year. Ask
another relative to host. Don’t risk pushing yourself into a
summer depression just to live up to tradition.
- Think about why. If
you struggle with summer depression year after year, ask yourself
if there’s a reason. Do you associate summer with a difficult time
in the past – the death of a loved one or the break-up of a
relationship? Have you had previous bouts of depression during the
summer? Without even realizing it, you may have started to
associate the summer with sadness – an association that gets
stronger every summer that you spend depressed. If you do have
some unhappy connection with the summer, sorting it out could help
you break the cycle.
- Talk to your doctor about adjusting your medication. If
you’re on medicine for depression, and you find that summer – year
after year – makes your depression worse, talk to your doctor
about changing your dosage. Maybe he or she could up your dose in
the late spring and taper it back down in the fall. It could
really help head off summer depression problems, Cook says.
- Plan your vacation carefully.Before
you book your plane tickets or load up your car’s roof rack for
your annual summer vacation, ask yourself this: Is this what you
really want? Or is it an obligation you’re fulfilling to a
relative? Will it make you happy? Or will it stretch your
finances, stress you out, and make you fall behind at work?
Consider alternatives. Instead of taking a whole week off at once,
might it be better to take off several long weekends spread out
through the summer? Would taking time off but staying at home – a
“staycation” – be more relaxing? Don’t get locked into a vacation
that won’t feel like a vacation.
- Don’t beat yourself up. One
thing that’s hard about summer depression is that you feel so out
of step. Everyone else seems to be having such a swell time. You
aren’t. You keep asking yourself, “What’s wrong with me?”
Try not to think that way. “So much of our misery grows
out of the gap between where we are and where we think we ought to be,”
says Cook. So stop worrying about how you feel relative to other
people. Stop assuming that you’re supposed to be happy just because the
calendar says it’s June. Instead, concentrate on what’s triggering your
summer depression and how you can overcome it.
“Treatments do work,” says Cook. “Psychotherapy or medication can blunt
the effects of a seasonal depression. Summers really don’t have to be
so bad.”
R. Morgan Griffin and Dr. Brumilda
Nazario/Web MD
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