Written by David RobsonFunctional support person
Getty ImagesOur actions and decisions can change as the seasons change. The trick is learning how to make the most of this natural change.
The Northern Hemisphere may have passed its shortest days, but winter isn't over yet. After the festive celebrations of Christmas, January may feel like the darkest month for many.
It's not just our emotions that are affected.a recent scientific papersThe paper, published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, explores the many ways seasons affect our brains, from sexual desire to intelligence to social activity.
While it is well known that creatures such as Canada geese and black bears change their behavior with the seasons, these subtle changes in human psychology are less discussed. But they may be essential to understanding our decisions and well-being.
Here are some of the most notable discoveries that have caught the attention of researchers.
feeling
The existence of winter depression, also known asseasonal affective disorderSymptoms include persistent sadness or anxiety lasting at least two weeks, feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, low energy, overeating, and excessive sleep.
Many people may experience depressed mood even though they do not meet all the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of SAD. This general melancholy is informally known as “.winter blues”, and research suggests it is widely shared. In the early 2010s, researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, analyzed Content from 509 million tweets from 84 countries. They found a correlation between changes in daylight hours and the emotional content of posts. As the days got shorter, users tended to use fewer positive words.
Getty ImagesThere are many possible explanations for winter blues and sadness. One popular theory is that reduced light levels may interfere with the body's internal clock, known as the 'circadian rhythm', thereby impairing the healthy regulation of neurotransmitters involved in emotional processing. There is.this gave me inspiration light therapywhich uses a special lamp that mimics the sun to readjust the body's body clock, and a 2019 Cochrane Systematic Review concluded that the evidence: Its effectiveness as a preventive treatment was limited..
Recent research by health psychologists Kari Leibovitz It suggests that How we think can also influence.work together Joal Vitelso At the University of Tromsø, Leibovitz asked participants from different parts of Norway about their attitudes towards winter. For example, they were asked to rate their agreement with a statement such as “Winter is one of the most beautiful times of the year.” “I love the coziness of the winter months.” “I love the soft light during the winter months.” Leibovitz and Wittersow found that people who strongly agree with these statements have higher levels of found that they had higher life satisfaction and more positive emotions, and were more likely to cope with cold and darkness.
You may also like:
While it is true that changing your mindset is not a panacea for people with severe SAD, Leibovitz suggests Many of us may be able to overcome depression by learning to notice and embrace the positive characteristics of winter, such as the natural beauty it brings.
After all, we know that the way we think can influence many other phenomena. For example, people with anxiety disorders are more likely to struggle with:devastating” and other forms of thinking that focus on the most negative and frightening elements of the scenario. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help people: a more balanced view of the situation, leading to an overall improvement in mental health.There is Some evidence that this talk therapy may also be helpful for Sade.. A similar strategy may help lift our spirits during this year's darkest months.
memory and concentration
You may not be the only one who has noticed that exposure to sunlight reduces your mental strength. Her girlfriend Sanne Mooldijk and her colleagues at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, recently Large longitudinal study More than 10,000 participants were over 45 years old. They found that people assessed in the winter performed slightly worse on measures of learning, memory, and concentration compared to those assessed in the summer.
The cause of this seasonal variation is still unknown. Cognitive decline may be a result of people's generally depressed emotions. When you feel blue, it becomes difficult to think normally. Another possibility is Reflects vitamin D deficiency in winter,In other words thought to aid brain health. Vitamin D is produced in the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight, and the nutrient can also be absorbed from certain foods, but it is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from diet alone. Many people can struggle to get enough vitamin D, especially in high latitudes where winter days are short and the weather isn't as great.
Getty ImagesInvestigating this underlying mechanism could help scientists understand why it exists. Increase in dementia diagnoses over the same period. The slight decline in mental acuity during the winter months may amplify existing symptoms of cognitive decline and cause more people to meet clinical criteria for dementia.
sociality and sexuality
Although we may think of the description of “warm” and “cold” behavior as merely metaphorical, new evidence We suggest that these words may reflect an ancient association between ambient temperature and social bonding.
According to the theory,social thermoregulationIn this respect, we are similar to emperor penguins and many other creatures that naturally huddle together to share body heat.
If this theory is true, colder temperatures should make us seek out greater social connections.to Test this predictionA team led by Hans Eiselmann from the University of Grenoble-Alpes in France asked participants to complete a variety of questionnaires that probed their thoughts while holding a hot or cold drink. He found that people drinking cold drinks were significantly more likely to think about people close to them, people who satisfied their need for social connection, than people drinking hot drinks. Did. This assumes that participants actually have stable and supportive relationships in their lives, a fact that some participants cannot take for granted.
Further evidence is as follows our movie watching habits. Online movie rental data shows that when temperatures drop, people are more likely to choose romance movies over other genres. This result was replicated in multiple laboratories. Heartwarming movies obviously satisfy our evolved need for emotional warmth and affection triggered by the cold outside.
Getty ImagesOur sexual behavior follows a more complex cycle.According to research from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and Rutgers University in New Jersey, both in the United States, Google users The tendency to seek pornography increases from midwinter to early summer.. They are also more likely to seek out dating sites. Again, many factors may be at play, but the winter peak may be partly a reflection of our desire for more human contact. It seems reasonable to assume that. Whatever the explanation, this change has real-world health implications, and further research suggests Increase or decrease in sexually transmitted diseases over the same period.
With further research, scientists may be able to identify many more cycles of human behavior that result from the complex interaction of biology and culture. And with this deeper knowledge, we can better explain these changes in our own behavior. By cultivating a more positive mindset, forgiving ourselves for the odd moment of forgetfulness, and making more concrete plans to meet our growing social needs, we can all overcome the winter blues and start the new year. You can take steps to get the most out of it.
* David Robson is a science writer and author of the following books: Expectancy Effect: How Your Thinking Can Change Your Life, published by Canongate (UK) and Henry Holt (USA).he @d_a_Robson On Twitter.
—
If you liked this story, Sign up for the Essential List newsletter – Hand-picked features, videos and can’t-miss news delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Join 1 million Future fans by liking us on Facebookor follow us twitter or Instagram.
