The fate in our stars

from the OmniVista Health Learning News Desk

New research shows the month during which you were born appears to influence your adult temperament. In ancient times in the East and the West, philosophers and scientists found much meaning in exploring and applying the influences of the earth, heavens and seasons on human temperament, constitution, and health.

But now, a group of scientists in Hungary have new evidence to share. They studied 366 college students and found that participants born during the summer months (Cancer, Leo, Virgo) were more likely to have an irritable, “cyclothymic” temperament compared to those born during other seasons. “Choleric” is another term for this irritable temperament. And they used it commonly from the time of Aristotle in ancient Greece until the 1800s in the West. Over the ages, they associated this temperament with what is recognized today as manic depression, or bipolar disorder.

On the other hand, researchers found that students born during winter months (Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces) were less likely to have the cyclothymic temperament. And less likely to suffer from manic depression.

However, the winter-born students were more likely to have a unipolar depressive temperament than were those born during autumn months (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius). Traditionally, they called this depressive temperament “phlegmatic.” And it has equivalents in Ayurvedic and Chinese typologies.

Centuries ago, studies indeed turned up a link between season of birth and mental disorders we now recognize as unipolar depression, bipolar depression (manic-depression), and schizophrenia.

Newer evidence confirms that birth season has long-lasting effects through adulthood. For example, biochemical studies show that birth month influences neurotransmitters, such as monoamine brain biochemicals like dopamine and serotonin.

Researchers also observe that hospitalizations for mental illnesses spike during certain months of the year. Certain months also see higher statistics for the onset of mental illness.

SOURCE:

“Birth season affects your mood in later life,” European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (www.ecnp-congress.eu)