Seasonal affective disorder also known as SAD, is just on the horizon. This “disorder” shows up as fatigue, anxiety, sadness, oversleeping, and social withdrawal — especially during the fall and winter months. You may have noticed the quotes I put around the word disorder. This is important. Most “disorders” or “conditions” like SAD are just a label for a group of symptoms. They tell us what is going on, not what’s more important, which is why. Rather than asking why, we typically reach for a quick fix “treatment” of symptoms.
Symptom management is not the bad, but rather treating symptoms without ever addressing the underlying dysfunction. If you’re in Austin and struggling with low energy or mood during the fall or winter months, visiting an Austin chiropractor who focuses on the underlying mechanism of this could be a helpful step toward improving your overall wellness. Let’s figure out why this is happening so you can reverse the mechanism that is driving it!
The Impact of Less Sunlight on Mood and Energy
This seems to be the most popular “cause” of SAD according to many sources on google. Sunlight does indeed have an impact on many of our hormones important for mental health such as serotonin and melatonin. While this does indeed play a role in our mental health, there’s so much more underneath the surface that we can control with our lifestyle habits.
Stress and Seasonal Changes: A Double Whammy for Your Health
My guess from what I’ve seen from years of experience as an Austin chiropractor, is that many people will be getting sick this weekend. With the stress of the election even if felt by those around us, mixed in with the time change, the weather change, and all the holiday potlucks and parties with the comfort foods- this is a perfect storm in the making. Yes it’s a delicious and fun time, but also the recipe for disaster.
If you read our last blog on boosting your immune system naturally, during this season, you know that stress is the major lifestyle factor robbing our health bank. We often count on adding pennies back to our health bank with supplements instead of reclaiming our health by shifting our lifestyle habits.
Seasonal Affective Disorder Reframe
Seasonal Affective Disorder is just “another flavor of stress.” Meaning the same underlying driver is just producing different symptoms. As an Austin chiropractor I get to see all the different “flavors of stress” this season. Whether it be low back pain flare ups, neck flare ups, low energy, poor sleep, or heightened anxiety, these are all tied back to the nervous system. The nervous system- our brain and spinal cord, are the master control center of the body. When it becomes out of balance due to many lifestyle factors we will get into, we experience different symptoms such as SAD.
It’s important to note that mental health is really a reflection of the balance and health of our nervous system.
These lifestyle habits during this season tend to create an imbalance within our systems. Traditional doctors will then commonly prescribe drugs to help manage the symptoms, instead of ever addressing the underlying cause. According to many sources, exercise (or rather movement such as daily walking) has actually been found to be 1.5x more effective than medication such as SSRIs for moderate anxiety or depression.
Winter Wellness: Supporting Your Nervous System in Tough Months
Below are simple things you can do to create balance in your nervous system at home, helping you overcome the underlying driving force of seasonal affective disorder.
Movement
As you’ve already read, movement matters. Try to get your steps in each day to rebalance your nervous system at home! 7500 steps is typically the level we start to see benefits from. It has been shown to be more beneficial to move in short bursts of a few minutes throughout the day rather than getting a long period of movement in then sitting still all day. Having something to track your steps helps keep you accountable. Our time moving outdoors and getting sunlight gets reduced as the days get shorter so sometimes our strategy has to shift. If you have the flexibility of working from home, try doing your walk(s) earlier in the day while it’s still light out to get sunlight too. If you’re at an office, try going on a walk during your lunch period.
Reduce Toxins
Seasonally we tend to eat more sugar with all those sweet treats, drink those pumpkin spice lattes, and drink more alcohol like hot buttered rum this time of year. We love all these (just ask Dr. Brooks about her pumpkin spice lattes) but they do add up and create stress on our bodies! Unless you make the natural alternatives at home. Again, ask Dr. Brooks. She loves fall.
Not to mention all the candles or scents that are not natural. Many of these fragrances are actually hormone disruptors and contribute to nervous system imbalance. Some people notice headaches with these fragrances but don’t realize things like their sleep, mood, or energy are also being affected. Try a soy, coconut, or beeswax candle, and if it’s scented look for essential oils rather than a fragrance.
Make sleep a priority
This can be a tough one as so many struggle with sleep. Luckily combining these other strategies will tend to help with sleep, especially daily movement. Aim for 7 hours per night minimum. Ideally 8 hours of sleep per night is needed. Hopefully you don’t have a dog that jumps into your bed in the middle of the night and wakes you up. Although if the dog needs an adjustment we can help with that too. Again something to track this is especially helpful. There are many cheap smart rings options you can find to do this. The best one I’ve found is Oura.
Stress Awareness
This one almost seems unavoidable and even laughable. How do we avoid it?! Especially this time of year. It could be family, travel, the news, finances, work, or just the traffic we sit in daily that pushes us over the edge. Sometimes just being aware of it, and making it a point to do our best to reduce our stress is all we can do. That’s fine! Just know, it adds up, even if we “feel fine” in the moment.
The Role of an Austin Chiropractor in Seasonal Health Challenges
As an Austin chiropractor, I’ve seen how seasonal changes can impact not only physical health but mental well-being, especially for those dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Implementing the lifestyle habits mentioned above is a huge start to overcoming symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Beyond that, we may need some extra support. Many turn to medication, which I am not against. It’s just not my first option, knowing there are so many consequences and side effects that come with it. Simply reading about these drugs will freak most people out. Here you go. Also the problem is not that our bodies have a deficit name drug of choice.
Nervous system focused chiropractic adjustments help create balance in our nervous system, which typically translates to better mood and over better function. Below is a screenshot from my Oura ring the day after getting a nervous system focused chiropractic adjustment at Lifespring Chiropractic. I was still exposed to a good amount of stress, but my body was just more relaxed going through it.
The Neuro-Chiro Effect in Overcoming SAD
My friends regularly send me similar screenshots of positive changes in their health that they track through their wearables. We have started calling the term, the Neuro-Chiro Effect. At Lifespring Chiropractic, our Austin chiropractors measure the health of the nervous system with our much more robust nervous system scans, called INSiGHT scans. Measuring the health and balance of the nervous system, uncovers underlying factors that we often forget about that even happened years ago.
These factors paired with the stressful events of today are often what push us over the edge, creating many symptoms this time of year including many involved in seasonal affective disorder. To get your nervous system health measured, and help uncover deeper healing for SAD symptoms or other health challenges this holiday season, schedule an appointment with our Austin chiropractors.
