Page 25 - (DK) Home Doctor: Providing practical advice on home treatments

COMMON CONDITIONS: GENERAL SYMPTOMS 23

What you can do yourself continued…
PRACTICAL TIPS
● Try to eat regularly, even though you may not
feel like it. Choose foods that you enjoy, but make Coping with SAD Symptoms of seasonal
sure you include plenty of vegetables, fruit, bread, affective disorder usually develop as the days get
pasta, rice, and potatoes. Have small portions if shorter in the fall. You may feel sad, low, and tired,
you don’t feel like eating large meals. want to sleep more than you normally do, and have
cravings for starchy or sugary foods. Increased
● Exercise helps you relax, improves sleep, and
exposure to natural light is thought to help SAD
may reduce depression by releasing chemicals in sufferers, so try the following tips.
the brain that improve mood. Just going for a walk
● Try to get outdoors as much as possible on winter
or doing some gardening is beneficial. Everybody
should be capable of getting some exercise, but days. Even on dull, cloudy days you will benefit from
exposure to natural light.
if you have a medical condition (such as arthritis
● Arrange work and home conditions so that you are
or a heart problem), check with your doctor first.
exposed to as much natural light as possible. Work
● Try the natural remedy St. John’s wort to relieve by a window if you can. Trim back trees and bushes
low moods (see NATURAL REMEDIES, left). around your home to let in light.
● If possible, treat yourself to a short winter break
● Include foods such as oily fish and olive oil in in a sunny area of the country.
your diet to boost your levels of essential fatty ● Some people find light therapy helpful. This is
acids, or EFAs (see NATURAL REMEDIES, left). These usually given using a special light box that emits
substances may help combat depression. a very bright light. Other devices simulate a natural
dawn in the morning. Light boxes are usually
● Cut down or stop drinking alcohol. Although
expensive, so discuss what might be of value
it may appear to offer a “quick fix,” alcohol can with your doctor before you invest in equipment.
contribute to depression and also affects your
Using light therapy
physical health.
You can carry out normal activities,
● Stop using any recreational drugs, such as such as reading, working, or
marijuana or ecstasy; they can have long-term eating, while staying close
effects that contribute to depression. to the light box.
● If your sleep is disturbed, try reducing your
caffeine intake, and avoid sleeping in the day
(see DIFFICULTY SLEEPING, p.17).
● If you regularly feel tense and find it difficult
to unwind, try practicing deep breathing exercises
and muscle relaxation methods (see PRACTICAL
TECHNIQUES, pp.20–21).
● If possible, try to identify the cause of your
depression. Defining your problem may help you
stop feeling guilty about your feelings and, with
time, you may become able to deal with the
underlying difficulty.
● If you are regularly depressed in the winter
months (a condition known as seasonal affective
disorder, or SAD) you may benefit from light Seek further medical advice
treatment (see PRACTICAL TIPS, right). Arrange to see your doctor if:

● Your depression is becoming more severe
and/or lasts longer than 2 weeks
● You are taking prescribed antidepressant
drugs and they are not having an effect within
the timespan suggested by your doctor