A woman I'll call Cathy came to me recently for a foot problem, but ended up talking about very different problems. "I've just had it with this winter," she told me. "I just can't get up the energy to get my work done. I can't concentrate, even when I do have the energy. I don't feel like talking to friends. I cry at the drop of a bucket."
"Is it just this winter, Cathy?" I asked her. "Or is it every winter?"
She thought about that. She shrugged. "Maybe it's even worse this time, but it's every winter, pretty much. I guess I've come to expect it, but I've never gotten used to it or gotten over it. When it gets cold, I turn into a different person."
Countless people feel a little like hibernating when cold weather arrives, but many suffer from a syndrome that makes them experience true depression during the winter. It's called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and, chances are, you or someone you care about it has it.
SAD is thought to be caused by decreased exposure to sunlight and causes symptoms identical to those of major depression from other causes. They include low mood, tearfulness, inability to concentrate, impaired sleep patterns, weight gain, irritability and even thoughts of suicide.
In Alaska, over eight percent of the population is thought to suffer from SAD. Many other states have rates of three or four or five percent. Think about that: We may be talking about over ten million Americans.
According to Keith Ablow, MD, the Fox News psychiatrist "SAD is an under-diagnosed condition that is responsible for a tremendous amount of psychological distress, but also a big price-tag in terms of decreased productivity of folks who think they're just 'down,' but are really fighting a real psychiatric disorder. People who have always 'hated' the holidays or who 'can't stand' February should start to wonder whether that's them speaking or an illness speaking for them."
Ablow has treated executives whose work performance plummeted during the winters, students whose grades fell, couples who argued ceaselessly during cold months and got along pretty well during warm months, even celebrities who couldn't perform when New York winters got them down.
There's something the millions of Americans battling SAD should know. It's highly treatable, often without medication. Here's the prescription: bright light. That's right. "Owning a special high intensity light that you put on your desk can replace the sunlight you're missing and restore your sense of wellbeing", adds Dr. Ablow..
Sound too good to be true? It isn't.
"It's amazing to me that so many people still don't know that these lights [widely available from companies like LiteBook and Northern Light Technologies], can actually have great positive effects on the winter blues. Using one daily, for a short period of time, maybe while reading the newspaper or having a cup of coffee or doing some work on the computer, can change people's lives. If enough people had them, it could actually have a very significant and very positive effect on public health.", says Dr. Ablow.
Here's a prediction: Watch for these bright lights to end up having positive effects on alertness, concentration and mood not just for people with the winter blues, but for millions more who may suffer low level mood disorders that are due to chronic lack of exposure to light. So many of us wear sunblock and sunglasses all the time, opt for surfing the Internet over surfing for real (or doing anything else outside), and travel from the car to the office and back again, that I think we may have an undiagnosed epidemic of sunlight deprivation to contend with.
Bright light therapy isn't to be used by certain folks with eye conditions or skin conditions that prohibit exposure to high intensity light. They can also rarely cause someone vulnerable to bipolar disorder to experience too much energy and even manic symptoms. And sometimes medications are indeed necessary to stop SAD. But for millions of Americans, these bright lights are just what the doctor ordered.
So. . .
I purchased:
1. a full spectrum 60 CFL and put it in a a cheap desk lamp base. $15
2. A step in place stepper $60
I turn on the lamp and step while I watch the Simpsons or another comedy. It works remarkably well.
Even using 150 watt equivalent florescent bulbs (they make them but not always easy to find), the squiggly kind you put in a regular lamp, will help a lot. Humans as a species were never meant to be cooped up in the dark without adequate light or exercise.
I can't stand winter's lack of light.
Maybe it is somewhat a psychological condition?
I feel that days with more sunlight are more worth living - that they, perhaps, are and extension of life? People all around the world associate the sun with life. Perhaps that thinking is built into the hardware of our brain. Humans everywhere enjoy the sun or the dawn - the beginning of a new day -safe from the dangers of the night, we are ready to go on. We associate darkness with evil and sleep and the unknown.
Additionaly, days that are 'longer' (with more light) seem to delay the onset of tommorow, and therefore delay age, death, or the danger early humans faced at night (or at dusk) when they could not see (as well) and their dangers (from other animals) increased?
We're pretty complex and not that far removed from our ancestors.
Also, I need someone to pay my electric bill.
I especially hate the dark when there's no electicity
.
Generally, I get through the holidays ok because I am caught up in the cooking, baking and visiting. But the crash always hits me right after the new year and I do not truly recover until sometime in April. (March is generally a long, cold and frozen month here and it is by far the worst month of the year for me.)
My preschooler and I are taxed for ways to spend time right now, without relying on too much TV. She is an outdoor girl and it is so much easier when we can spend hours at the playground or just hanging around the yard.
My husband always tells me, every January, to remember that the days are slowly getting longer and we will get a little more light each week. It helps to have a goal! I try to get some fresh air whenever possible, even in the middle of winter, and I think it helps me. (even though I hate cold weather and am a wimp when it comes to staying outside in it.) Cutting the sugar intake also counters depression; another good reason to clean up my act after the holiday binges.
And anybody who's subject to SAD should not be living in Alaska.
http://tinyurl.com/yvzyxo
This is a link to a 2002 article on R.S.A.D. from the New York Times.
Even with light therapy I feel down and irritable in the winter. I hate leaving work in the dark cold weather. When I get home all I want to do is sleep or curl up in bed. I hate it. I'm moving to san francisco in June for a little releif but I know its not like LA there.
And when I was younger we'd just get drunk. Now, what I do is whenever the sun is out I try to soak up as many rays as I can. With the reflection off the white snow you get more ,whatever it is, than in the summer.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/
Fortunately, I can deal with the dark.
Don't laugh. Sure, it's funny but it is a measure of the simple-minded view society has of mental illness and the hubris that infests the medical community.
My apologies. I face a quandry. I do not wish to appear to be using this post to promote my book on this very subject but my commitment to this problem is such that I feel driven to speak out. If there is any interest in the results of my 14 years of research on the subject, all that is necessary is to click on my profile.
i tried the light. i didn't feel any improvement with it. my doctor recommended medication. i didn't want to live my life on mood altering drugs.
one day i said to hell with it. i started taking a few winter trips to cities where i thought i might like to live and that had more sunshine. i did that for 3 winters.
this month i celebrate, and i do mean celebrate, my 8th year living in palm springs, california. it's sunny 350 days out of the year. i wake up every day supercharged, happy, rested, hopeful, involved and 30 pounds thinner.
i used to be able to sleep the day away. now i can't wait for the sun to come up (many day's i don't) to get my day started.
the sun has allowed the real me to live my days.
the trade off? well, we do have 120+ days a year over 100 degrees and i can tell you that on the rare day it's over 120 degrees i do have a moment when i question my decision to move here.
but i wouldn't go back for anything.
i miss my friends that i left behind but they LOVE to visit here in the winter and enjoy some sun and a little warmth. i miss living in a real city but small town life has it's definite advantages as well.
i completely empathize with people with SAD.