Change of Seasons: Seasonal Affective Disorder Group 4

Sun-Moon-Earth System “The greatest impact on our lives are the Earth, Sun, and Moon.” – universetoday.com The Moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the sun. The Earth’s rotation on its axis makes the Sun and Moon rise and set The Sun-Moon-Earth work together to make these natural phenomenas ◦ Solar eclipses  When the Sun – Moon – Earth are aligned straight and the Moon blocks the Sun ◦ Lunar eclipses  When the Sun – Earth – Moon are aligned straight and the moon is located in the penumbra which is the Earth’s shadow ◦ Tides  When the Moon’s gravitational pull make the ocean wives rise up and those are called tides ◦ Change of seasons  The Moon’s gravitational pull is one of the things that causes Earth to tilt, the tilt of the Earth causes the change of seasons. When Earth is tilted, there’s a part that is hit by the sun and parts that aren’t

Background Problem Current ConditionIdeal Condition The change of seasons give a negative effect towards people’s mental health The change of seasons cause some people to feel depressed The change of seasons does not give much negative effects towards people’s mental health People are able to live their everyday lives without the struggle of feeling depressed

Purpose of Project Raise awareness to people Spread more knowledge about it so people would know (from the symptoms) whether they have it or not Let people know how to prevent it

Benefit of Project Understand more about the change of seasons (the process, the areas affected, etc) and how it affects Seasonal Affective Disorder We get to understand more about Seasonal Affective Disorder We know how to prevent it from happening to us by learning the season patterns and when it changes We can help other people out who has this problem

Theories Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a subtype of depression that occurs because of the season change (mostly winter) It happens because of the change of seasons and lack of sunlight Cause of low energy, tiredness, depression, change in weight/diet, change in sleeping schedule

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Cause and Effects CauseEffects There is no specific cause founded From what we’ve read, we think the cause of Seasonal Affective Disorder is the lack of sunlight The change of seasons can trigger a mood change with people who have bipolar disorder Decrease in sunlight may disrupt the body’s internal clock Decrease of sunlight may cause a drop in serotonin (neurotransmitter) which affects mood Disrupt balance of melatonin levels Messes with your sleep patterns and mood Make you feel suicidal

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Data and Location Seasonal Affective Disorder affects 1-2% of the population, while winter blues affect 10-20% Seasonal Affective Disorder is most common to people who live at least 30 degrees latitude in the north or south Places like Jacksonville, Florida; Austin, Texas; Cairo, Egypt; Hangzhou, China; South of Perth, Australia; Durban, South Africa; Cordoba, Argentina

Austin, Texas

Earth’s Revolution

How Earth’s Revolution Affects Seasonal Affective Disorder Since earth has a tilt, some part of earth that’s facing the sun doesn’t get much sunlight During the summer solstice, it’s summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere During the winter solstice, it’s winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere

Their Solution A light box radiates light up to 10 times the intensity of normal domestic lighting. Sit 12 inches in front of a 10,000 lux light box for 15 to 30 minutes each morning. The light box emits a controlled amount of white light while having the UV light filtered out. This may cause hypomania or mania to those who have bipolar disorder A dawn simulator is a device that will build up the amount of light in the bedroom in the morning to simulate the sun rising to wake you up. The light gradually increases in 30 to 45 minutes. Waking up to what looks like a sunny morning can reset your circadian rhythm and improve your mood.

Our Solution We want to make a health program This program gives people knowledge about how the change of seasons work and how that affects the start of Seasonal Affective Disorder This program helps people figure out a strategy to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder by analyzing the change of seasons pattern Provides a newsletter subscription that talks about survivor’s past experiences, tips, opinions by officials, etc We will hold events that people with Seasonal Affective Disorder can go to There will be experts and officials at the event and we will be talking about the change of seasons and Seasonal Affective Disorder

Why is this Program Effective? This program will be held outdoors during daylight (with the exception of bad weather) meaning that sunlight will hit their skin Based on what we’ve read, the reason why our mood drops and causes Seasonal Affective Disorder is because of the lack of sunlight that can cause our bodies to react badly It’s easy to join

“How can our knowledge of the change of seasons help benefit us in treating Seasonal Affective Disorder?” Knowing when the change of seasons occur, the specific dates, the temperatures, and the weather can help prevent people from getting Seasonal Affective Disorder because they will know when this would happen letting them to prepare beforehand

“What are the causes and effects of structural change?” Earth’s revolution; it spins, it’s tilted, it orbits around the sun. These structural changes can cause the change of day and night as well as the seasons. How it affects the seasons because of earth’s revolutions, some parts of the earth are in the sun’s light and some other parts aren’t.