Spring Fever – Do You Have It?
Mar 16th, 2010 by admin
We use the term “Spring Fever” to refer to how our bodies feel at this time of the year: restless, ready to start something new, given to daydreaming, energized, not hungry.
Is this real or an invention?
Many scientific studies point to a very strong connection between our physical and mental wellbeing and the physical environment around us (Smolensky, M. The Body Clock Guide to Better Health”, 2001.)
There are both physiological and psychological reasons for Spring Fever:
A close correlation between longer days and shorter nights, warmer weather and hormonal levels in our bodies has been found. Two chemicals produced by our bodies seem to play a central role in Spring Fever: melatonin and serotonin.
Melatonin is the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake patterns. During the winter, when the nights are long, we produce more melatonin. In spring, the retina in our eyes detects the longer day light and signals the brain to produce less melatonin. The result is that we become more awake.
In spring there also is an increased release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects our moods. This contributes to feelings of giddiness and happiness, which are typically associated with Spring Fever.
Also, people tend to eat less in spring. Anthropologists believe winter diets are heavy in carbohydrates because historically there was less access to proteins during the winter months. People survived the cold season by living in a state of semi-hibernation until the weather warmed up again, the days got longer and they could go out hunting and foraging again.
From a psychological viewpoint, this time of the year is particularly important because spring represents a new beginning. As nature re-awakens after the long months of winter, so are our hopes and wishes. We look forward to starting anew; we get excited about new projects and ideas, we feel revitalized and excited about new prospects, we open up to love again.
Exposure to the sun improves our moods and attitudes and, because in spring we tend to be outdoor more, and we have more in contact with nature, we feel psychologically better.
Aside from the positives listed so far, there are also negative factors that come with this season of the year. In spring there is a spike in suicide rates and rates of depression. During the winter months depressed people may have held high hopes that things would get better for them once the weather improved. But when this does not happen, they become discouraged, lose hope and want to give up, as they think there is nothing else to look forward to.
Spring season is also responsible for high rates of allergies and other physical problems.
So Spring Fever is truly a mixed bag and as such needs to be treaded carefully. This means we should not change our habits too drastically and too quickly. For instance, if we did not exercise for months during the winter, it is not wise to overdo it all of a sudden. We risk injuring our body and disappointing ourselves. The same is true with the level of energy in general. Just because we feel we have more energy, it is important not to over abuse it. Likewise, if we spent months and months indoor, it is not prudent to be out in the sun too much.
Enjoying what spring has to offer is great if we stay away from excesses and allow our body to GRADUALLY adjust to the change of season.
