“Come, spring season, you are the yeast of my sleep and rest.
You are the friend of my memory, the joy of my heart full of pain…”
Namık Kemal
Spring is slowly coming like the herald of many news. It mediates the end of one era and the beginning of another. The colors in the sky are becoming more vibrant, the light is brighter to the eye, bird sounds are starting to sound closer to the ear, and there is a serious and visible movement in nature. Spring is at our door with all its liveliness…
We give different meanings to spring. Everyone has their own expectations from the spring months. For some, it is a precursor to summer. Therefore, it involves a preparation process. It makes the need for physical and spiritual renewal visible. Spring cleaning takes place not only in homes, but also in the soul, mind and body. In this respect, it evokes joy and liveliness in some people and instills hope.
For some, it involves the process of completing and closing the past and allowing the future and the new. Traditional rites in ancient civilizations and rituals in shaman culture are still practiced by people today.
Inclination towards spirituality, celebrations and rituals aimed at strengthening psychic energy become more frequent during this period. Even religious holidays and festivals take place one after another in the spring months.
Just as the snow lifts off the vegetation, the emotional burden of winter is getting ready to lift off people. It can be perceived as the right time to throw this burden off your shoulders and lighten up physically and spiritually.
Unfortunately, the arrival of spring does not carry similar meanings and feelings for everyone. For some people, it is a sign of intense and heavy emotions. For example, symptoms of depression may increase not only in the autumn months, as is thought, but also in the spring months. During seasonal transitions, most of us may feel depressed, exhausted and tired from time to time. It is worth remembering that not every sadness indicates depression. Feelings of grief, depression, hopelessness and loneliness experienced during this period, lasting longer than 2 weeks and reaching the point of loss of functionality at work, at home and in the social environment, and the difficulty in coping with these feelings, Feelings of helplessness may indicate seasonal depression.
Studies on seasonal triggering factors of depression symptoms point to the following finding. As daylight increases, people's mobility and motivation, which is the driving force to take action, also increases. The excitement of life outside and the increase in people's general energy levels can reinforce the feelings of loneliness, abandonment and hopelessness in people prone to depression.
Similar studies show that attempts in individuals at risk of suicide increase in the spring period, and include findings that the mobility that comes with the spring months also affects the decision-making and action speed of the depressed person.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder or bipolar mood disorder, which is another mental health disorder, is a neurobiological disorder that affects the daily life of the person, depending on external factors or not. It is a mental health disease with sharp ups and downs. Although there is no agreed data on the frequency of distressing symptoms in the spring months, it is noted that people with this disorder seek specialist support and hospitalizations increase in the spring months.
The mobility in attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, which commonly occurs in childhood and manifests itself as excessive mobility, restlessness, and attention problems that hinder learning, also increases in parallel with the light and energy levels that increase in the spring months.
Environmental, physiological and hormonal changes in the transition months can trigger many emotions. Emotions are not experienced on a single plane. It has ups and downs. Sometimes it is intense and sometimes it is light. Psychological flexibility and resilience is not the absence of problems, but the presence of the capacity to cope with problems. Resisting our feelings and trying to change them can have just as devastating consequences as ignoring the feelings.
It is a remarkable awareness to understand that emotions come and go like clouds in the sky. Don't be paralyzed by a situation that makes us anxious. Instead of looking at the emotion we feel in that situation, questioning our accompanying ways of thinking and perception instead of getting caught up in them, and meeting the experience as it is, is the antidote to being dragged by emotions.
In order to be aware of transition periods and prevent intense emotions, a list of activities that are especially good during these periods can be kept. In order to get rid of the negative effects of being stuck at home and introverted, being outdoors, contacting nature, taking advantage of daylight and socializing without the need for crowds nourish the mind, soul and body.
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