Russians suffer from no winter and gloomy autumn depression

Winter in Russia is super warm and absolutely gloomy this year which turns to be a real disaster for the majority of Russians. At that, some are absolutely delighted with the hot winter while others are terribly discouraged with the fact that they cannot see white snow and sunshine for so many days running. Depending upon the emotions that the hot winter stirs up in people they can be absolutely precisely grouped into early risers and night owls, into heat-loving and frost resistant, into patriots and westerners.

Photo: Russians suffer from no winter and gloomy autumn depression

It seems that time has stopped when nothing is happening to the scenery in front of your window for six months.

Still, there are people who seem to be quite satisfied with this winter and call it ‘a European type winter’. Warm winter weather has a little effect upon late risers who do not think it is a great problem that winter days with no snow at all look very much like twilight. In fact, dusk is their best part of the day.

Heat-loving Russians who like summer and feel cold when temperature drops too low also like this warm winter. The warm winter helps them live till summer, their favorite season, rather comfortably.

Women having suede boots are also happy because of the hot winter as they can wear suede footwear without the risk of spoiling them in the snow mud so much typical of big Russian cities in winter. Some of them at that believe that this no-snow winter makes Russia a more European country.

When daylight hours reduce in autumn many of us plunge into the habitual autumn depression also known as a seasonal affective disorder. When the human organism gets less sunshine it synthesizes less serotonin, the hormone controlling human activity and good spirits; at the same time the organism synthesizes more melatonin, the sleep hormone. So, listlessness, irritability, depression and low spirits are the hormonal reaction to the lack of sunshine.

People’s susceptibility to seasonal affective disorders depends upon their gender: it is known that women are more subject to seasonal depressions than men. In addition to the autumn depression people’s sexual activity drops, the risk of cardiovascular diseases increases and immunity in general gets lower.

This winter looks very much like a prolonged autumn. What effect does it have upon people? Is it so that global warming entails environmental changes and also has a destructive effect upon the human organism?

When we do not get enough sunlight for a very long period we begin to suffer from solar and sensory insufficiency. To compensate for the insufficiency of daylight and bright colors light therapy can be used. In case you have no opportunity to find a light therapist then enjoy colorful and vivid movies. The film genre isof little importancein this case as it is the form of a film that can fight your light insufficiency not the contents. Also wear bright clothes to cheer up yourself and people around you. Doctors recommend getting some ultraviolet at solaria. At that it is particularly important to wear protective sunglasses not to injure eyes.

It is a sure fact that people catch a cold in such atypically warm weather more often than during cold winters. This happens because of too high humidity, general lowering of people’s immunity and unusually warm temperatures outside. At that, experts speak not about an absolute temperature but about relative temperatures. Russians in Siberia who traditionally have 25-30 degrees below zero in winters have fixed a higher incidence of cold this winter when the average temperature made up ten degrees below zero outside. The number of patients having cold has increased in the same proportion in Moscow where the average temperature made up four degrees above zero vs. the traditional average winter temperature of five degrees below zero.

Those who practice tempering regularly will continue doing it to improve immunity. Others will have to take medicines to help organism have better immunity. At that, doctors recommend taking immunomodulators only when you are faced with cold. In other cases, herbal tea containing St. John’s wort, ginseng and licorice is a wonderful remedy for immunity.

The so long protracted autumn can confuse people’s sense of time. When nothing seems to be changing outdoors within about six months one can easily believe that time has stopped. This results in low motivation, bad tonus and no firmness of purpose that derange people’s professional activity.

A vacation somewhere in a warm country can be organized to save the situation. If it is an unfeasible dream at present moment, then start perspective planning of further activities. Take a big size calendar and outline goals you would like to achieve this year, in the professional sphere and in private life first of all. The wider your planning sphere spreads the better for fighting the gloomy moods this winter. These may be insignificant things such as clearing windows as well as more substantial plans – going to a driving school or loosing flesh. Then try to define how much time the implementation of each plan may take and when you can start. Fix the days when this or that thing must be done. It may happen that some of the things planned may never be fulfilled but the planning will help you feel that time is going on and you have things to be done.

Let us believe that such an extremely warm winter will never repeat and cause depressions and gloomy moods among the Russian population.

Medportal

Translated by Maria Gousseva
Pravda.ru