In the depths of winter, some people find themselves feeling depressed, anxious, and lethargic. For many of these people, the cause is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

It is believed SAD affects about one in ten people in the higher latitudes (above 60 degrees from the equator) and about one in twenty in the middle latitudes (most of the US, for instance). The only part of the world where SAD is not found is in the tropics, where daily sunshine is roughly the same at all times of year.

What causes SAD? We don’t really know. It is believed by many researchers to be either a rise in melatonin or a drop in serotonin due to the shorter days and the sun being lower in the sky. Melatonin is a sleep-related hormone, and when you experience less light, your body produces more of it; you therefore want to sleep more and feel less energetic. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is tied to positive moods, and with less light, your body produces less of it; this leads to having a more negative outlook throughout your day. It also may be the result of a disruption to the circadian rhythm of the body, again due to the lack of light through the day.

The symptoms of SAD readily identifiable: depression, sleep problems, lethargy, irritability, anxiety, mood changes, and a loss of libido. A person with SAD will also probably get sick more often, as it is believed to weaken the immune system. He will crave sugary foods in much higher quantities, probably leading to weight gain.

The disorder is, as named, seasonal. Most symptoms will start to develop in the fall, and will be strongest in January and February. By mid-spring they should have disappeared for most people.

Treatment for SAD basically involves getting large quantities of light for several hours a day. People who spend a lot of time outside probably already get this, but office workers and those who stay indoors all day will not. Therefore, the first treatment is to get a particular kind of lamp that simulates sunlight. By working in the light of the lamp, your body finds the right balance and behaves as expected. For some, however, antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy are deemed necessary.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is no fun, but it is easy to avoid in most cases. If you live in an area that gets little light in the winter, spend time every day getting as much daylight and bright indoor light as possible. You, and everyone around you, will feel better.

Resources:

• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) [www.mayoclinic.com]
• The Seasonal Affective Disorder Association [www.sada.org.uk]
• Seasonal Affective Disorder [www1.nmha.org]

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From the editor

My wife and I are getting ready to leave for three weeks in Thailand at the end of this week. We’re planning on spending a week just relaxing on the beach, then we’ll be trekking in the highlands of northern Thailand. We’re both especially looking forward to being warm for a while… no snow for three weeks!

I will not be responding to email while I am away, but I will get back to you once I return.

Hope you have a great February!

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

I was working at my computer the other day and found myself randomly wandering around the internet. It wasn’t long, maybe ten minutes, but it was enough that I realized I had caught myself avoiding things I needed to be doing.

And then it hit me: I do this often.

I really want to be productive. Often I am. But it tends to come in spurts. I’ll have several days (even a couple weeks) where everything just clicks, where I get tasks done at a rapid pace, where nothing is left undone. Then I can have several days (even a couple weeks) where I don’t accomplish much.

Sometimes there are outside influences impacting my ability to get things done. It’s easy to tell myself that I would have finished more if I had just had more time in the week. But the reality is that most of the time I really do have more time than I need to accomplish the things I want to accomplish, if only I would stay focused on the important things.

How many of you find yourself avoiding the things you ’should’ be doing in favor of things you ‘want’ to do?

And then I had another realization: avoiding the unpleasant tasks was a habit. I’m a master of this habit, to the point that I don’t always realize when I’m doing it.

I had come full circle, finally understanding what I had been doing all these years. I had created a habit of convincing myself that the things I ‘wanted’ to be doing were things I ‘needed’ to be doing. In so doing, I had convinced myself that I was actually spending my time wisely and not just wasting it.

I ‘know’, intellectually, that the habits I partake in create the existence I currently experience. But deeper down, at the level of ‘Knowing’ (with a capital ‘K’), I hadn’t really accepted the truth of this. And yet I see evidence of it all the time, if only I pay attention.

Do you ever wonder why you’re in the situation you’re in? The answer is simple: your results are the product of your actions. Which actions are the most influential? Your habits. It doesn’t matter what you do for an hour one afternoon when you’re feeling motivated, it matters what you do day in, day out. In other words, it matters most what your habits are.

Do you want to see results in your productivity? In your health? In your relationships? Focus on your habits.

Ever wonder why New Year’s Resolutions don’t seem to stick the way you hope they will when you make them? Because until you create new habits, they are just wishful thinking.

So how do you go about creating new habits? This, depending on your point of view, is either the easy part or the hard part. Discipline. It’s easy to decide to change your habits, and it’s easy to do the new thing… what’s hard, for most of us, is remembering to do the new thing after the first few days, remembering why it’s important and meaningful and desired.

Yes, your habits create your outcome. What habits have gotten you to where you currently are? What habits will get you where you want to be?

Are you ready to make some changes?

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From the editor

I’m tired of winter. It’s been below freezing too many days in a row now. I’m ready for sun. I think it’s time to take a vacation.

That reminds me, I’ll be gone for a few weeks starting in a week. I’m off to Thailand for a much-needed dose of heat and humidity. If there is anything you would like to read about in the near future, let me know soon. As always, use the feedback links on the website.

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

It’s flu season again. Actually, it’s ’sick’ season, as this time of year brings outbreaks of a plethora of diseases, especially the flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia. This week, I’ll take a brief look at these three.

The most talked about of the three is, of course, the flu. Every year we the urgings to get a flu shot, as I’ve reported before. The flu is always viral. It spreads through inhalation of vaporized droplets put into the air by coughing and sneezing. It is fairly unpleasant for a couple days, bringing fever, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, diarrhea, and vomiting, then it’s just uncomfortable for another week or so until it fully clears. Because it incubates for up to four days before symptoms show, it is possible to spread the flu before you are aware you have it. Treatment involves mostly resting and drinking plenty of fluids. Because it is viral and well-understood, it can be prevented with a vaccine; since the strain changes every year, the vaccine must change, too, so vaccines are only good for one season.

Bronchitis is also unpleasant for several days. Like the flu, it is spread through inhalation of vaporized droplets put out by coughing and sneezing. The infection is localized to the bronchial tubes. It is usually viral, about 90% of the time, but sometimes it is bacterial. While there are fewer symptoms than the flu, it feels just as bad; it causes a dry, painful cough, thick mucus production, fever, and fatigue. Treatment consists of rest and drinking fluids, and in the case of a bacterial infection, antibiotics.

By far the worst of the three is pneumonia. Pneumonia is usually bacterial, sometimes viral, and occasionally fungal in origin. It, too, is inhaled, sometimes spread by vaporized droplets expunged by others, sometimes aspirating bacteria normally-present in the mouth or sinuses into the lungs, and sometimes it is a chemical in the atmosphere that is to blame. It is a lung infection. The lungs are especially fragile during and immediately after a bout with the flu or a cold, so pneumonia often follows these diseases. Because the lungs are so fragile, pneumonia takes longer to recover from, lasting anywhere from two to three weeks in most cases. The symptoms are cough, fever, chills (including body shakes), chest pain, fatigue, fast breathing and heartbeat, nausea, and diarrhea. Treatment is rest, drinking fluids, and (in most cases) taking antibiotics.

The first thing to notice is that the symptoms for all three are quite similar. They all share coughing, fatigue, and fever for several days. In fact, in the first day or two, it can be hard to tell which you have.

Notice also that the treatment for all three is basically the same. The body does its best work when it is left alone to heal. Resting and hydrating allows the immune system to fight these effectively. Drugs, for the most part, might make you feel better in the moment but they also slow the immune system’s efforts to restore health.

The final thing to notice is that all three spread roughly the same way: you simply inhale something in the air. Whether it is a virus, a bacteria, a fungus, or a chemical, the culprit makes it past your front-line defenses and into the throat or lungs, where it gets a foothold before the immune system can fight it off. This requires proximity to infected people. That’s why these are more common in the winter, as we spend more time indoors. They are also common in office buildings and schools, precisely because large numbers of people get together regularly there… if you work from home or are otherwise out of the loop, you are much less likely to develop any of these.

Oh, they do have one other shared trait: you are less likely to catch any of them if you eat well and stay fit. A strong immune system is, by far, the best preventative measure against these. And if you do catch one of them, being healthy to start with means the immune system can focus all efforts on the disease; you will get better faster. Children, the elderly, and those who are already sick are far more prone to have problems with these illnesses.

None of these are fun, but neither are they usually serious for healthy adults. Most of us can just live our lives normally, and if or when we do catch one of these, just tough it out.

Resources:

• Understanding Bronchitis - the Basics [www.webmd.com]
• Acute Bronchitis - Topic Overview [www.webmd.com]
• Pneumonia - Topic Overview [www.webmd.com]
• Understanding Pneumonia - the Basics [www.webmd.com]
• Influenza - Topic Overview [www.webmd.com]
• The Flu: Know the Basics [www.webmd.com]

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From the editor

As I write this, I am getting over the last of a hard-hitting bout of bronchitis or pneumonia, I’m not sure which. All I have left is the cough, which is uncomfortable but tolerable. I’ve had better weeks, that’s for sure.

The toughest part, though, was keeping busy while I was stuck in the house for nearly a week. It’s ridiculously cold outside, and with the dry air, I start coughing the minute I step outside. Thankfully, I have a large pile of books to read, or I would have gone insane with boredom.

That made me think: what do other people do to pass the time when they are stuck in bed for several days? So now I’m asking you. Go to the feedback tool on the website and let me know how you pass the time when it hurts to move. I look forward to hearing some good ideas!

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

Happy New Year!

I decided last year that the first issue of the new year would be a ‘bandwagon’ issue and focus on New Year’s Resolutions. However, as you (hopefully) expect, my suggested resolutions are general rather than specific. No one set of goals will be right for everyone; however, a few basic approaches should apply to everyone, regardless of who you are.

Remember last year’s resolutions? If you haven’t implemented those, then they should come first… think of this list as supplemental to the previous suggestions.

If you can make them all, that’s great! If you can only commit to two, make it the first two; if you can only commit to three, make it the first three; you get the idea. Without further ado, here are the changes I suggest you make in your life:

1. Slow down. Take time to smell the proverbial flowers. On vacation, actually leave your work behind. In the evenings, spend time being social, where you aren’t trying to solve the problems of the world. Relax more. This will give you more energy and help you focus more intensely when you need to, and bring balance to your life.
2. Spend a few minutes every day meditating. Every day, at least once, take 15 minutes and meditate. If you have time for five-minute meditations through the day, take advantage of them. If you can take a full hour daily (or a few times a week), do so. Meditation is a powerful tool for increasing concentration, creativity, and mental performance in all aspects of your day.
3. Spend some time each week focused on others. Each week, dedicate some time (at least an hour) doing something for someone else. Maybe it’s helping the neighbor fix something, perhaps it’s playing catch with your son; it might be cooking, singing, or teaching. Find something you enjoy doing (whether or not you do it well), and give others the gifts of your atilities and (more importantly) your energy.
4. Only commit to what you absolutely will do no matter what. So many of us over-commit in every aspect of our lives. We spend our day running from task to task, from plan to plan. We get a lot done, but we don’t get anything done well. Instead, only commit to the things you absolutely intend to do: once you commit, your word should be such that it’s as good as done. Remember the saying ‘my word is my bond’? Make your word to yourself mean everything.
5. Every day, make one change to better the world. It’s the little things that add up over time. Make some change in your environment, in yourself, that makes the world a better place for everyone.

Make each day count!

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From the editor

By now, you are probably back at work and starting to get back in the swing of things after the annual mental break we all take over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Some of you might already have gotten used to writing the year properly when you write the date.

For others, this transition seems to take time. It might be two or three weeks before it feels like things are fully underway.

Either way, I am glad to have you back after the break! I look forward to providing many useful issues in the coming months.

Healthy thoughts,

Jeff