Your Health and the Changing Seasons

It is common to hear that moving into fall and winter can contribute to feelings of sadness or perhaps even weight gain. The condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder is the most well known emotional outcome of the shorter, colder days that are coming.

But keep in mind that negative emotional changes are not inevitable! Of course, moving into spring and summer typically brings changes such as more energy or optimism. But autumn can be a time when we look forward to the holidays, chilly weather indoors with friends and family, fires, and the rest.

Whatever changes do happen to you, scientists have new explanations for why this can occur. For example, mood and metabolism changes with the changing seasons may be due to the expression of our DNA, which can vary when one moves from spring into summer, or from fall into winter.

However, even these changes in your DNA can be modified by your attitude. Creating positive expectations for yourself can help offset physiological changes, and head off the more negative emotional changes that can sometime come with the autumn weather.

As we get ready for the change in seasons this year, note how you feel and that these symptoms may simply be related to the changing seasons. And remember to do what you can to create more positive emotional balance by finding the good in your day, looking to the most positive interpretations and expectations you can create.

• Immune System: DNA expression changes can affect immune system activity, making one more susceptible to infection.
• Brain Activity: Another study looking at brain activity showed that attention and memory may be affected seasonal changes.
• Migraines: A recent study found that seasonal weather changes can increase headaches, including migraines.
• Sleep: Researchers showed that the shorter days of autumn can produce “hypersomnia”, which is the exact opposite of insomnia. Subjects slept nearly three hours more each day in the fall than at any other time of the year.