Manic season
Manic season
The difficult side of Spring + your invitation to learn my research methods and/or work with me 1-1
Spring’s arrival brings with it sweet relief from Winter’s cold darkness. It’s a time of year we all long for and celebrate! However, there’s a difficult aspect to the return of the sunlight. Our ancestors knew this, hence the many stories of the harshness of the Sun’s energy. For example, the legends of the Greek god Apollo characterize the Sun’s dual nature, with his powers of both inflicting and healing disease. The Sun is a force with both generative and destructive powers.
Therefore, as the light comes out, I also encourage a level of caution and care. In the quantum health community, we often talk about the importance of building a solar callus. But when it comes to promoting the benefits of sunlight exposure (which most people are deficient in), I have seen the exuberance of the sunlight encouragement sometimes even reach a point where people ask you to throw off all caution with the sun whatsoever!
What I am talking about with regard to caution is not about sunburn.
Recently, a family friend has been deeply impacted with an unfortunate resurgence of manic psychosis in one of their relatives—and highlights a side of mental health most of us are fortunate not to face.
Mania and psychotic episodes are characteristic of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, two mental health conditions with deep ties to the circadian rhythm.
Manic episodes can be triggered in sensitive individuals by sudden increases in the amount of light exposure.
In my work, I always recommend starting with the evening routines first, because darkness is truly a salve for many. Once artificial light at night, meal timing, and sleep are stabilized, then I start in on increasing daytime sunlight beginning with morning and evening exposure. And finally midday exposure.
You can find more details in my intro post:
Circadian support for acute mental health scenarios
When confronted with someone in the middle of a manic episode, a circadian-savvy practitioner will use enforced darkness to soothe the situation, as darkness is a proven method to reduce the length and severity of such episodes1.
It may be that they have never before experienced a stable light or food environment.
With darkness being a solution, we can then begin to understand why Spring is the time of year with the highest rates of hospitalization for mania2.
To rewind a bit for those who are new here, the circadian rhythm is coordinated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is located in the brain behind the eyes. The light/dark cues coming in from the eyes are the main signal that informs this part of the brain and tells it what to do, and when. It is connected to every other system in the body, and keeps all systems and parts in order.
As you know from my own healing journey, for me it was my immune system that bore the brunt of my circadian disruption. And those symptoms for me also coincided with Spring—crippling seasonal allergies and allergic contact dermatitis. Because the circadian rhythm is so fundamental to health, it can lead to a wide variety of outcomes.
Spring Fever, Spring Madness
Madness and poor health have always been with humanity, but modern artificial lights and indoor lifestyles, which confuse the SCN, have accelerated and worsened these effects.
Research analysis from the University of California tells us mental disorders most likely begin in the womb3—dependent upon mother’s circadian rhythm. This uniting factor helps explain why the symptoms between mental disorders are so highly overlapping, and why a diagnosis in childhood can predict future escalations in the severity and complexity of their mental symptoms.
For people already in the chronodisruption/mental health cycle, stabilizing the circadian rhythm should be a high-priority item. Many healthcare providers are becoming versed in chronotherapies for mental health, and if not, peer-reviewed research is easy to find.
To succeed, it is most likely necessary to not only correct the central clock with a stable light/dark environment, but also the peripheral clocks via stable nutritional inputs4.
It’s not enough to just tell someone in the midst of a psychotic episode to eat and sleep on time—rather, it’s a long game of supporting them in establishing these rhythms. It may be that they have never before experienced a stable light or food environment (remember, this sensitivity to chronodisruption was likely programmed in the womb).
An angle on this I am excited to learn more about is how the endocannabinoid system—which is the part of the body that responds to Cannabis sativa plant medicine—is actually under circadian regulation and, like the circadian rhythm itself, is also deeply involved with pregnancy5, birth6, and breastfeeding7 AND with memory, stress, and mental health8.
Thus, all of this is another way to say: it’s all connected!
Updates:
I’ll be teaching at the Quantum Biology Collective, creators of the Institute of Applied Quantum Biology, next month, and you are invited! Register here to learn my online research methods and how I find, curate, and integrate research into my work. This event is free to attend.
I’m doing free meet & greets on a limited basis—here’s a great way to open up the conversation and see if working together might be a good fit or to learn more about my different learning programs. I walk with individuals and practitioners to improve wellbeing in the family and/or to implement this information into their wellness practice.
Walker, W.H., Walton, J.C., DeVries, A.C. et al. Circadian rhythm disruption and mental health. Transl Psychiatry 10, 28 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0694-0
Parker, G. B., & Graham, R. K. (2016). Seasonal variations in rates of hospitalisation for mania and hypomania in psychiatric hospitals in NSW. Journal of affective disorders, 191, 289–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.11.053
Alachkar, A., Lee, J., Asthana, K., Vakil Monfared, R., Chen, J., Alhassen, S., Samad, M., Wood, M., Mayer, E. A., & Baldi, P. (2022). The hidden link between circadian entropy and mental health disorders. Translational psychiatry, 12(1), 281. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02028-3
Codoñer-Franch, P., Gombert, M., Martínez-Raga, J., & Cenit, M. C. (2023). Circadian Disruption and Mental Health: The Chronotherapeutic Potential of Microbiome-Based and Dietary Strategies. International journal of molecular sciences, 24(8), 7579. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087579
Ezechukwu, H. C., Diya, C. A., Shrestha, N., & Hryciw, D. H. (2020). Role for endocannabinoids in early pregnancy: recent advances and the effects of cannabis use. American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 319(3), E557–E561. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00210.2020
Taylor, A. H., Amoako, A. A., Bambang, K., Karasu, T., Gebeh, A., Lam, P. M., Marzcylo, T. H., & Konje, J. C. (2010). Endocannabinoids and pregnancy. Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry, 411(13-14), 921–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2010.03.012
Datta, P., Melkus, M. W., Rewers-Felkins, K., Patel, D., Bateman, T., Baker, T., & Hale, T. W. (2021). Human Milk Endocannabinoid Levels as a Function of Obesity and Diurnal Rhythm. Nutrients, 13(7), 2297. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072297
Morena, M., Santori, A., & Campolongo, P. (2022). Circadian regulation of memory under stress: Endocannabinoids matter. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 138, 104712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104712