Beyond Blue: October 2008 Archives

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Okay, folks, we got less than 72 hours until Armageddon for depressives: Daylight Savings Time. Time to pull out the HappyLites!

In case you think I'm making up all this stuff about less light leading to depression, especially in the winter months, I will quote a woman with much more medical knowledge and expertise than me: Karen Swartz, M.D., Director of Clinical Programs at the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, and one of the physicians who evaluated me when I was severely depressed in March of 2006.

Here's what she says in a special report as part of the Fall 2007 Johns Hopkins Depression and Anxiety Bulletin called "Getting Relief From Light Therapy":

Some people experience episodes of depression only during the winter months, particularly January and February, when there is less sunlight--thus the name "winter depression," or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Typically, symptoms of depression peak in the winter and recede in the spring. 

As seasons change, so does the amount of daily sunlight, which in turn causes changes in the body's internal biological clock, known as circadian rhythm. This rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that affects our eating and sleeping patterns, brain wave activity, hormone production, and other biological activities. In some people, less daily sunlight and changes in circadian rhythm can bring about depression.

One theory is that the relative lack of sunlight during these times may alter brain levels of certain mood-related chemicals, for example, increasing levels of the hormone melatonin.

People with SAD often eat and sleep excessively, crave sugary or starchy foods, and have a full remission in the spring and summer when more daily sunlight is available.

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According to Karen Swartz, here's how to recognize seasonal affective disorder (SAD):

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by recurring bouts of major depression that usually coincide with the shorter daylight hours of autumn and winter. Though a person with SAD may have depressive episodes at other times of the year, the number of seasonal episodes significantly outnumbers the non-seasonal ones.

For an episode of major depression to be classified as SAD, there should be at least three episodes of mood disturbance in three separate winter seasons, at least two of which are consecutive. There should be no association between disturbance and situation stresses, such as being unemployed each winter.

A major depression, seasonal or otherwise, is characterized by the following symptoms [my note here: also remember the "atypical" symptoms I listed last week that can occur especially in men]:

• Sad, depressed, or irritable mood
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Sleep problems
• Lack of energy
• Inability to make decisions
• Problems concentrating
• Low self-esteem (feelings of worthlessness or guilt)
• Lack of interest in or enjoyment of activities
• Diminished sex drive
• Bodily aches and pains
• Memory loss
• Suicidal thoughts

As a manic-depressive, my postcard from the Caribbean would say, "Having a ball, wish I were dead." (My guardian angel, Ann, came up with that one.) That's how moody I am. And my moods definitely fluctuate according to the seasons.

Thus, my love-hate relationship with October. Typically, in a non-global-warming world, this is the month when nature is most dramatic about transitioning from summer to winter. With every leaf turning and falling, I cringe a little, because I LOVE summer and all its light (I used to be life guard ... bring on the skin cancer), and, for the most part, I HATE winter with its short days that seem longer than ever when you've got two energetic kids stuck inside the house. The pumpkin patches, Fall festivals, and Halloween parties (not to mention the bags of Kit Kats I buy "to pass out to the kids") help me through October, but I still spend this month like a polar bear--making the necessary preparations for my impending hibernation.

I taped this video in the beginning of October when the leaves were green and attached to the trees. So, in case you think I've relocated to southern California, nope ... I've just been sitting on this awhile.

And by the way, Happy Halloween to all my Beyond Blue readers! Try your best to differentiate the ghosts that come knocking at your door begging for candy from the ones hanging out in your head begging for power and influence :)

To read more Beyond Blue, go to www.beliefnet.com/beyondblue, and to get to Group Beyond Blue, a support group at Beliefnet Community, click here.

Every day I drop David off for school I pray that none of the seemingly sweet boys in their Catholic school uniforms will bully my boy because I know his chemistry is similar to mine: he's extremely sensitive and cruel behavior might stick with him long after those boys have graduated from high school.

But the bulk of harassment these days don't happen in the school cafeteria where the teachers have a shot at catching it and stopping it. And those mean fifth-grade cliques of girls that have a shy, overweight 11-year-old too frightened to raise her hand in Math? The nasty stuff doesn't happen in the classroom.

It all goes on at home. In the privacy of their bedrooms. Courtesy of the computer.

Many experts claim that cyberbullying--harassment that happens online--is so prevalent today that schools need to create and enforce strict policies to prevent it from doing irreparable harm, even taking a life.

Take the case of Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. Her thirteenth year had been miserable at her school, as she was the outcast fat girl trying to fit in. She fled to the Internet, where a cute guy was flirting with her on MySpace.com. Except that he wasn't real. His identity had been up by some girls who wanted to know what Megan said about them.

One night Megan went online and found a message Josh, the fictitious guy, that he didn't want to be friends anymore. She was stunned and upset. Harsh messages went back and forth between him and Megan. Then the girls who created Josh enlisted other friends to attack Megan. "Bulletins" were sent out, linking friend-list to friend list, and messages were being broadcast all over MySpace that Megan was fat, a slut, a bad friend. That night Megan looped a belt around her neck and hung herself in the bedroom closet.