It’s spring and you’ve got probably noticed a change within the sunrise and sunset times. But have you furthermore mght noticed a change in your mood?
We have known for a very long time that light affects our well-being. Many of us feel more positive when spring returns.
But for others, big changes in light, similar to originally of spring, can be difficult. For many, shiny light at night can be an issue. Here’s what’s happening.
An ancient rhythm of light and mood
In an earlier article in our series, we learned that light shining into the back of the attention sends “time signals”to the brain and the master clock of the circadian system. This clock coordinates our circadian rhythm.
“Clock genes” also regulate circadian rhythms. These genes control the timing of many other genes activate and off in a 24-hour light-dark cycle.
But how is all this related to our mood and mental health?
Circadian rhythms could also be disrupted. This can occur if there are problems with the event or functioning of the body clock, or if someone is usually exposed to shiny light at night.
When circadian rhythms are disrupted, it increases the chance of some mental disorders. They belong to them bipolar disorder AND atypical depression (a variety of depression where someone is amazingly sleepy and has problems with energy and metabolism).
Light for the brain
Light can also affect circuits within the brain that control mood, like animal studies show.
There is evidence that this happens in humans. A brain imaging study showed exposure to shiny light throughout the day while contained in the scanner modified the activity the world of the brain chargeable for mood and alertness.
Another brain imaging study found the connection between every day exposure to sunlight and the best way the neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger) serotonin binds to receptors within the brain. In several cases, we observe changes in serotonin binding mental disordersincluding depression.
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What happens when the seasons change?
Light can also affect mood and mental health because the seasons change. In autumn and winter, symptoms similar to low mood and fatigue may appear. However, these symptoms often disappear with the arrival of spring and summer. This is known as “seasonality” or, when severe, “seasonal affective disorder“.
What is less known is that for others, the transition to spring and summer (when there may be light) can also include changes in mood and mental health. Some people experience a rise in energy and willingness to be energetic. For some that is positive, for others it can be seriously destabilizing. This can be an example of seasonality.
Most people they usually are not very seasonal. But for many who are, seasonality matters genetic component. Relatives of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are also more prone to experience seasonality.
Seasonality can be more common in conditions similar to bipolar disorder. For many individuals affected by such conditions, the change in day length throughout the winter can trigger a depressive episode.
Counterintuitively, longer days in spring and summer can also destabilize individuals with bipolar disorder in “activated” is a condition during which energy and activity are in excess and symptoms are harder to regulate. Seasonality can due to this fact be serious.
Alexis Hutcheon, who experiences seasonality and helped write this text, told us:
(…) the change of season is like preparing for a battle – I never know what is going to occur, and I rarely emerge unscathed. I’ve experienced each hypomanic and depressive episodes brought on by the change of season, but whether I’m up or down, the one constant is that I can’t sleep. To cope, I attempt to persist with a strict routine, adjust my medications, maximize light exposure, and at all times concentrate to subtle mood changes. This is a time of increased awareness and the need to be one step ahead.
So what happens within the brain?
One explanation for what happens within the brain when mental health changes with the seasons involves the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.
Serotonin helps regulate mood and is the goal many antidepressants. There is a few evidence of seasonal changes in serotonin levels, which could also be lower IN Winter.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation and movement, and for some it is usually a goal antidepressants. Dopamine levels may additionally fluctuate with seasons.
However, the neuroscience of seasonality is an emerging field that requires further research is required know what is going on within the brain.
How about shiny light at night?
We know that exposure to shiny light at night (for instance, when someone has been up all night) can disrupt someone’s circadian rhythm.
This variety of circadian rhythm disorder is related to a more frequent occurrence of symptoms including self-harm, depressive and anxiety symptoms and deterioration of well-being. This also comes with higher rates mental disorderssimilar to major depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Why is that this? Bright light at night confuses and destabilizes the biological clock. It disrupts the rhythmic regulation of mood, cognition, appetite, and metabolism many Other mental processes.
But persons are very different from one another sensitivity to light. It continues to be a hypothesis that people who find themselves most sensitive to light could also be most prone to disruption of their biological clock brought on by shiny light at night, which consequently results in a greater risk of mental problems.
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Where to from here?
Learning about light will help people cope higher with their mental health problems.
By encouraging people to raised adapt their lives to the light-dark cycle (to stabilize their body clock), we can also help prevent conditions similar to: depression AND bipolar disorder appears first.
Healthy light habits – avoiding light at night and looking for light throughout the day – are good for everybody. But they can be especially helpful to humans endangered mental health problems. These include individuals who have a family history of mental health problems or who’ve them night owls (sleeping late and getting up late), that are more prone to biological clock disturbances.