Are you suffering from Summer SAD?
Summer is finally here and while most of the country seems to be throwing its hands up in joy and rushing to the nearest sun lounger, forgive me if I’m not celebrating. I really hate the summer. Hot, sweaty, bright. ugh. I loathe this time of year. Give me an overcast day, maybe some light drizzle or a nippy wind and I’m in clover. I’m genuinely quite perplexed that people could enjoy the summer sun in the way they so obviously do.
I stare at them rushing out, squinting in the baking heat, getting all sweaty and red, and wonder what on earth it is they enjoy. It’s all so uncomfortable.
Finally, it’s bedtime and you lie there throwing the covers off, muggy and airless, tossing and turning, endlessly flipping the pillow over in search of a cold bit. Then you wake up — exhausted — and have to face the whole thing all over again. Hideous!
All my friends know I’m a Summer Scrooge, to the extent that when they host a barbecue, they always make sure there’s a spot of shade set aside for me, from which they know I will not move. It’s an ongoing joke.
THIS horror of heat must run in families because my mum is the same. Go round to her house on a sunny summer day and she’ll always be sitting inside with the curtains closed, complaining about the infernal weather.
And while I wouldn’t say it makes me depressed, it certainly doesn’t fill me with joy.
For some people, however, the dread of summer takes on a whole new level. Their mood deteriorates in the sunny weather to the extent that they become clinically depressed.
This has been termed ‘ reverse SAD’ or ‘ summer-SAD’ — the opposite of Seasonal Affective Disorder where the lack of sunlight in winter months triggers a depressive illness.
While sufferers of winterSAD often feel sluggish and tired all the time, and report weight gain, the symptoms of summerSAD are the opposite. People complain of insomnia, loss of appetite and feelings of agitation or anxiety.
It’s thought to be made worse by the fact that so many are positive about the warmer months, meaning that those who are being adversely affected can feel isolated, which compounds their low mood.
While for some it’s clear that their ‘ summer- SAD’ has a specific trigger — they burn easily or have sensitive skin or hay fever, for example, so the summer months obviously signal discomfort for them rather than enjoyment — for others, there is thought to be more complex neurobiological reasons. In winter-SAD, it is thought that the lack of light interferes with melatonin production — an important hormone in the brain that we are coming to appreciate has a role in regulating not just sleep, but mood. Yet interestingly, in countries nearer the equator such as India, summer-SAD is more common than winter- SAD. This has led some scientists to wonder if this change in mood during the summer is similarly a result of changes in light levels — too much light interfering with optimum melatonin levels in the same way not enough does. During the summer months, the excess light can result in the brain not making enough melatonin, triggering insomnia.
A BAN on smoking in beer gardens and on beaches to try to make the habit ‘obsolete’ has been suggested. It’s been branded ‘crackpot’ by critics and I tend to agree. While previous bans have made smoking less socially acceptable, we have to accept that people are free to make unwise choices.
If not being able to get to sleep isn’t enough to make you feel down, melatonin’s role in mood regulation is also likely to be a factor. There’s no clear cure for this yet. While winter- SAD is often treated with a special light box to alter melatonin production, the same doesn’t work for summer-SAD where the problem is too much light.
PERHAPS cool room sitting with in the a curtains mum does closed isn’t like so daft my after all? While it might seem that everyone is skipping around delighted at the summer sun, studies have suggested as much as 10 per cent of the population experience summer-SAD.
So if you’re dreading summer’s sunny spells as much as me, console yourself with the thought you’re not alone.
And remember: Fortunately we live in a country that will be overcast and drizzling again pretty soon. Bliss!