S.A.D. & Creativity
Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) was first described and named in 1984 by a psychiatrist who observed a recurrent winter depression in his patients (and later a study of 29 patients), that remitted in the Spring. Whenever there is a pattern like this, it’s worth investigating. Getting to the root and finding a preventative is the Ayurvedic practitioner’s goal. Living in Michigan, where overcast skies and increased barometric pressures in winter could affect just about every resident, we have to prepare for the potential of altered states of happiness. I’d like to offer an Ayurvedic perspective in addressing this annual inevitability.
Several times a week we hear of a friend, neighbor or family member who ‘found the solution’ in a pill. “I’m so relieved, they finally figured it out and I feel much better now.” The conversation about health and wellness seems to come to screeching halt, as though the striving and curiosity can finally be put to bed, and normalcy can return to their days. When asked how they’re going to get off the pill, we’re met with a puzzled look or even contrite exasperation.
There are enough tik tokkers online preaching against the dangers of big pharma, so I won’t step into that swamp in this blog. But I will put a stake in the desert sand again and say that in most cases, including weight loss, psychotropic and pain medications, pills or shots only give us respite enough to find a true, long-term solution to the underlying issue – a new diet or movement plan, a change of lifestyle or environment, and different frame of mind, etc. Pills can give you calm in a storm, sufficient to put firmly in place a new habit, a new belief system, a new way of working through the world. But they are not the cure. In fact, our country has fallen into a very addictive thought process of short-cutting to symptom-free, bypassing the more difficult but righteous path to long-term freedom from disorder and disease.
At our Shridevi Wellness Center in India, we treat many patients wanting to get off anti depressants after a few years. This is difficult after the first six weeks of use, but possible. (A specific class of mood-altering drugs originally came with an explicit guideline restricting them to 2-6 weeks of use due to the risk of physical dependence. That risk still exists.) With increased focus on a natural lifestyle full of all the things the body, spirit and mind need to flourish, the dependence on any drug decreases. Collaboration with the prescribing physician is required, of course, in the planned, steady reduction of pharmaceuticals. Never try it alone! But within 3-9 months, with diligent practice, our patients are living happily with stress management and self-care tools firmly embedded in their everyday routine…..as prevention.
In Ayurveda, it is explained that everything around us is a drug. When we reach for something to quell a disturbance in the body or mind, we turn it into a drug; food, shopping, TV, sugar…and of course elicit substances. Wine could be four ounces of merriment with a family dinner, or it could be four ounces of coping mechanism – it depends on our mood. Which brings me back to S.A.D.
As we move into the depths of winter here in the northern states, I offer the wisdom of Swami Rama whose wisdom I found while studying for an MSc in the Science of Creativity & Change in New York. Swami Rama related creativity to the concept of self-discipline, comparing the process of shaping one’s character to an artist or engineer shaping their work. In his book Creative Use of Emotion he explores how emotion can be used to expand consciousness rather than allowing them to be a source of conflict.
Being or doing creative gives us a daily opportunity to manifest creation, or in the least, mimic it. Our brains do not know the difference between two synapses coming together to generate a new or innovative object or thought, and the act of creation working in or through us such as cells beginning to divide in a fetus. Creation is creation, and it’s the best and highest antidote to the conflict and eventual destructibility of addiction or depression.
So as this December progresses, and moves into the darkest months of January and February, know that mental conflict is the potential. Put a preventive method in place before it sneaks up on you. Start with a thorough emptying of the mind with yog nidra which might allow insight to arise. What is your medium of creativity? Don’t feel you have one? Then dance or sing when no one’s looking. Spontaneity is a high form of creativity. Hug randomly, laugh loudly, play…then meditate. These are all interventions to S.A.D. And practiced regularly, they’ll also continue to hijack an ego bent on hijinks during any month.
Sponteneity in Sanskrit: “Raga-Bhakti”, what manifests when one remembers s/he is creation.
