Scientists Reveal How Depression Is Linked to Sunshine

Scientists have made an interesting revelation about the bipolar disorder – depression that the average individual should be interested in.

Not only because the condition is real in our clime and time, but much more so because the prevailing socio-economic conditions in our society today, calls for increasing interest in depression.

Inability of governments from county to country in fully addressing the social and economic problems confronting their people, has resulted in a lot of other social problems.

For example, the average Nigerian household today, is under intense pressure, precipitated by the challenging economy generally, and failure of social welfare programmes to bail them.

Hyper-inflation has taken basic and essential items far away from the reach of the people, and providing for households has been very gargantuan.

“What we have done in the recent, is suspend spending money on any other thing order than feeding”, says Mrs Sandra Aliu, who sells food items at the Akute bus stop, in the Ifo local government area of Ogun State.

She said she picked the idea from an online post and agreed with her husband the best way to go was freeze capital expenses for basics like food and children’s schooling.

Osaze Williams, who sculpts at Bariga, while corroborating the wisdom in stepping down on other projects, added however that it has come with a price.

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“The painful side of it, is that some outdoor activities of the students have also been sacrificed, and it is not easy seeing children in the kind of mood that comes when they are not able to do what other kids are doing”

Both agree that many people were now under intense pressure trying to balance income with household expenditure.

Random check by The Eagle shows that there are more that have affected the mood of people in the recent, from the lack of amenities where they reside to insecurity at both state, national and international levels.

Generally therefore, depression mood has become more real in the country than ever before.

But there is a study which tends to suggest that the medicine to this psychological condition is readily available.

The conclusion is that although depression and bipolar disorder may have seasonal patterns in more people than previously thought, a relationship exists between mood and sunlight.

For Oleg Kovtun and Sandra Rosenthal “..there is an increasing recognition of the profound, diverse, and complex impact of sunlight on human physiology and behavior.

“A conservative estimate would be that about 20 percent [of people with depression] is depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern,” study author Sandra Rosenthal, from Vanderbilt University, told Newsweek.

“A seasonal pattern is very common in bipolar, so there is a whole other group affected by seasonal depression.”

They reference a 2019 study from the National Center for Health Statistics in the United States which found that depression affects 18.5 percent of U.S. adults; and an estimated 5 percent of the global population, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).data.

Meanwhile, bipolar disorder affects 40 million adults worldwide, according to the WHO.

Previous research has found that up to 30 percent of individuals with depression or bipolar find that their symptoms change with the seasons, with improved mood in spring and summer months, and depressive episodes likely in early winter.

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“A conservative estimate would be that about 20 percent [of people with depression] is depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern,” study author Sandra Rosenthal, from Vanderbilt University, told Newsweek.

“A seasonal pattern is very common in bipolar, so there is a whole other group affected by seasonal depression.”

-with reports from Hatty Willmoth