Since the classical age it was believed that the pathological alterations of the mood were sensitive to Seasonal changes.
Hippocrates of Kos, father of medicine, formulated what in the West is one of the first etiological theories, that is, which do not derive diseases from the divine will or magic, but from the imbalances of moods within man.
These moods define the person’s temperament; These moods are body fluids such as: black bile, yellow bile, phlegma and blood.
On the basis of this humoral theory, Hippocrates believed that the production of Bile Bile, responsible for the melancholyand in the summer of yellow bile, cause of the mania.
In fact, the basic mood of each human being physically manifests changes in relation to various factors; Among these, the conditions of the environment in which you live are decisive.
In order to survive in the environment, all human beings have had to and have to deal with the alternation of the day and night, of the lunar cycles and seasons. Chronobiology is a branch of biology that aims to study the biological rhythmsmainly understanding the circadian rhythm (a cycle of about 24 hours, such as the sleep-wake cycle), the Infradian rhythm (longer than one day), the ultradian rhythm (shorter than one day).
THE circadian rhythms They depend on an “internal clock” to the body which is synchronized with the natural cycle of day and night through natural stimuli such as sunlight and environmental temperature, and also social stimuli. It concerns all organic functions and influences physiology, behavior, cognitive sphere and sleep-wake rhythm, in humans and in all mammals.
In the context of biological rhythms, it is physiological that the mood manifests changes and variations in relation to the fact that it is day or night, summer or winter, beginning or half year. The regularity of biological rhythms: their interruption, modification or alteration, are a risk factor or an aggravating factor both for some organic diseases and for some mental disorders.
So what happens in our mental balance when the summer arrives? The sun, therefore the light, the heat what effect on our mood?
There Solar light attenuates anxiety and stress favoring psychological well -being: light is in fact responsible for the production of serotonin. The biological watch that each human being has in the brain activates every morning as soon as the sun rises, with the production of proteins, enzymes and serotonin .. so until the day; Slowly it slows down with the reduction of the light and takes over the melatonin that makes the aforementioned values drop in order to regulate our body set up for daytime life.
The excess light, a typical condition of the summer period, is responsible for the increase in serotonin production and this is helpful to the mood of people who suffer from depression, creating a positivity that darkness denies them.
On the other hand, the excess light is responsible for the increase in state of excitement Mental in subjects suffering from bipolar mood disorder: in them very often the psychic distress exacerbates with the arrival of high temperatures. Their liveliness, instability and tendency to have incongruous behavior increases in an exaggerated way.
Therefore it is essential to support patients who already follow a psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment to face the problem with adequate coping strategies. Often a poor knowledge of the problem generates inadequate behaviors that, instead of improving the problem, make it even more serious by determining the establishment of vicious circles.
Therefore a treatment that also includes a psychoeducative intervention to patients with serious mental disorders and their families, helps both parties to recognize the initial signs of crisis, improves communication within the family unit and reduces the number and severity of the repercussions.
