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i never used to believe that the season could affect moods and such, i would swear to it not affecting me, but recently, in the last week on my favourite forums i've seen 5 threads about people threatening suicide, including mine, 1 about depression and a poll/questionnaire about suicide.
is winter really that depressing?
well, i currently reside in a place thats known as the 2nd wettest in britain, though i can't confirm the accuracy of this, i can say i've known 2 sunny days since sept 25th. its dull and cold, but i'd hardly say it contributes to my mood.
nor can i say summer sunshine makes me feel much better (well the song by the corrs does, good memories...)
what is iut with the weather?
Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, set fieri sentio et excrucior
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smith
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On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
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or SAD, as it's usually called. You got me curious.
It's a real thing. It's a problem caused by a lack of bright sunlight in winter that affects your brain chemistry.
Symptoms can be:
sleep problems
depression
despair, misery, guilt
family/social problems
lethargy
physical symptoms
behavioral problems especially in young people
Interesting that it affects over 10 million Americans who don't even realize it. The sunnier and warmer the state in winter, the lower the percentage. Florida showed only 1.4% of the population while New Hampshire showed 9.7%
Here's a site that explains SDA:
http://www.outsidein.co.uk/sadinfo.htm
Here's an interesting article about college students and SAD:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/02/02-17-04tdc/02-17-04dscihealth-03.asp
I guess the best thing would be to all spend the winter in Miami on South Beach, but since that's not really reasonable.......just turn the lights up brighter and know that spring will eventually come.
Hope that helped :-/
smith
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Actually, for those who are truly effected by this problem, there are full spectrum lights that they must spend a certain amount of time under every day.
Having lived in Alaska, where the sun came up at 11am and when down at 2:30 pm in the winter, i know this syndrome well. It's the reason that alcohol, drugs and suicide are so common up there.
cheers!
aj
"I promise not to try not to fuck with your mind/ I promise not to mind if you go your way and i go mine/promise not to lie if i'm looking you right in your eye/promise not to try not to let you down."
--Eve6
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smith
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On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
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It's kinda like plants in a greenhouse when they flood the place with fluorescent light. Do people who suffer from SAD go to a clinic or do they buy the light and sit under it at home?
So, lots of people suffer from this and have no idea why they feel so depressed and lethargic? If you went to the doctor and asked, is this an accepted disorder? And instead of anti-depressant pills, you need light?
I wonder how they tell the difference?
smith
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trick
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Getting started |
Location: uk
Registered: September 2004
Messages: 24
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yeah SAD is a recognised disorder & a good docter would spot
it from the annual patterns of depression &/or behavioral changes.light boxes are available to buy at a cost of approx
£800 though you may be able to hire or borrow them i'll find
out as one of my friends is a sufferer & another 2 are
physcologists now training to be docters hope this helps.dickle
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It's a wonderful thing. Where i live it's seldome overcast durring the winter, usualy cold (minus 10-25 C is about average) with bright sun and blue sky. I actualy bought the lamp to tan under (it's very uncomfortable to go outside and try to get a tan wearing, well...as little as possible. in the dead of winter. It never really worked well for tanning under, and the tanning thing was just a phase i went though that ended one day in physics when i learned that going to a tanning salon three times a week for two hours for a month is the same radiation exposure as standing unshelded infront of the collection plates on a CANDU reactor for 30 seconds. (actualy i think i got those numbers wrong, it was two years ago when i saw them and they didn't look nearly as shocking on paper then as they do now, so i'd say i'm wrong. still i do remember the 30 seconds infront of the reactor is equivilent to X amount of time tanning per month.) they also had the comparison to natural sunlight. so i got to thinking "nice full body tan...or...no skin cancer...hmmmm." But one good thing that came out of buying that sun lamp...i learned that after spending time under it in the winter besides just feeling warm, it usualy relaxed me and left me in a good mood for the whole day.
I have heard of SAD though...actualy my grandpa has it, so i know a fair amount about it first hand.
Pyro.
Do what you love, changing the world is incidental.
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Seasonal Affective Disorder 
