How Less Sunlight Is Affecting Your Mood

You’re likely used to hearing about the sun and its ability to toast your skin.

But many don’t realize that without the sun, your body can’t reach peak performance. For instance, sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D, lower blood pressure, and even regulate mood. 

Drs. Jim Pang, Jr. and Nga Huynh at Interventional Psychiatry Group understand well the subtle needs of your body’s delicate systems, and we want our patients to be aware of them, too. 

Here, we explain the positive effects of sunlight on your mental health and how you can soak up the rays safely. 

Sunlight and your mood

There is a direct link between sunlight and your mood, so much so that there’s a name for mental health issues that stem from less sun exposure: major depression with seasonal pattern (previously known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD). 

This mental health issue affects around 5% of adults every year when the seasons change,  Daylight Savings Time kicks in, and you lose precious hours of sunlight. 

There are two main reasons you might be in a funk when the days get darker sooner. Here’s a closer look. 

Your neurochemicals slip out of balance

When exposed to sunlight, your body automatically triggers the release of hormones in your brain. One of these hormones is serotonin, which boosts mood, increases focus, and produces a calming effect. 

Without enough sunlight exposure, you can experience a dip in serotonin levels and start to feel mild to overwhelming feelings of depression. 

You don’t sleep as well 

Just as the sunlight triggers the release of serotonin in your body, the darkness has a similar effect. When the sun goes down, your body produces “the sleepytime hormone,” melatonin. 

Your regular sleep schedule goes out the window with shorter days, a lack of sunlight, and increased darkness. And if you’re not sleeping well, you’re not feeling well inside and out.

How to get enough sunlight

It’s not always easy to get your daily dose of sunlight when the days are much shorter, but you can do a few things to get as much as possible. Consider:

• Going for a walk in the morning when the sun is out
• Sitting as close to a window as possible
• Getting stronger light bulbs in your house
• Not staying in every evening
• Investing in light therapy

Ensure that when you’re out in the sunlight (even in the winter when it feels less intense), you wear protective clothing and apply sunscreen to exposed skin. 

The bottom line

If you have depression that shows up or gets worse in the winter, you could have major depression with seasonal pattern, a serious condition that you shouldn’t ignore. Getting more sunlight can help, but often, you need help from professional mental health experts to walk you through your symptoms and offer other treatments. 

Don’t drag through another winter. Instead, call our friendly staff or use our online booking tool to schedule a consultation with one of our depression specialists at our Cordova, Tennessee office.