SAD do more people have it in different areas of the country than others?!


Question: as ive just realised that in the uk particularly scotland, the winter season can last for almost 6 months.

starting from november when it becomes frosty right through to march/april. no wonder we're so damned miserable.

am i right?


Answers: as ive just realised that in the uk particularly scotland, the winter season can last for almost 6 months.

starting from november when it becomes frosty right through to march/april. no wonder we're so damned miserable.

am i right?

I live in Finland and it's really tuff from November to February, especially if there is no snow. Without snow it's like living in a sack! It's the darkness that affect us so badly. Some people feel really depressed during the winter while some think it's OK.
Summer in Finland is so intensive; light day and night, birds are singing day and night, people running around trying to enjoy the summer and holiday as much as possible. They barbecue all the time, driving boats back and forth, lye on the beach in anxiety not getting enough tan. It's weddings and parties, visits to friends summer cottages and the birds keep on singing loudly day and night. I prefer autumn when everything is cooling down and you can hear your own thoughts again.
But you're right; winter and darkness do make people depressed. You might start to eat ( sweets, fat food and a lot of carbohydrate ) and sleep more and you haven't energy to do more than the most necessary daily things. Light-therapy is an effective and rather cheep method to estimate SAD.

Depression during spring is also very common and it's also the time when the major part of suicides are committed. A depressed person usually has no energy to realise plans of self harming but when energy is increasing because of more light and warmer weather in spring, he/she might do it. One famous poet from Sweden, Karin Boye ( 1900 - 1950-something ) wrote a poem starting with the words; Yes, it hurts when buds are bursting, why would the spring otherwise hesitate.....? Hmm...difficult to translate poems but I hope the meaning of it became clear.

same thing here in holland. but there's more rain here i think

depends where in scotland you are. Inverness is completely differant weatherwise etc to where I live in SW Scotland. We have the golf stream coming up through the irish channel and our weather is very mild - hardly any snow or frost.

Yes, I've had people tell me how much happier they are in Southern California, Florida, etc. The rainy, miserable gray states like Ohio are always mopey and down. It has a lot to do with sunshine, even if we don't realize it.

I get it (mildly) and I live in Bristol, right down in the south west. Much sunnier and warmer here.

you've hit on something there, we should do research on it. I'm going to apply for a grant as we speak.

Correct. It tends to affect people who experience longer winters more than others. In fact, the treatment for it is UV light therapy, which is trying to substitute for the less amount of sunlight.

Interestingly i saw a psychiatrist give a speech recently where he pointed out that Iceland (a very northerly country, with little day light in winter and as such somewhere where you would expect SAD rates to be very high) actually had a very low rate of SAD. He speculated that the reason for the low rates was that over the years, people affected by the condition would've chosen to leave that particular country for somewhere with more daylight.
So basically what I'm saying is that I guess that you are right, but that there are counter-examples.
Hope that related to your question.

I,m happy,one of your dwarfs,and it,s nice to have a change from everybody feeling happy,as it hurts sometimes!

I live in the states and the states that aren't sunny all the time, have more instances of SAD than the ones like Florida, Southern Louisiana's, Southern California, New Mexico and Arizona. Places that see a lot of sun. Sun is a major part of how our brain functions or doesn't well. We need a minimum of about 15 minutes a day for good mental and physical health.

We see it alot in Alaska too.

yes, more people commit suicide in glasgow then anywhere else in the country, Fact!

And there is a place in the world (think its in or near finland) where its dark for 6 months of the year, in this country more people commit suicide then anywhere else in the world!

Slight tangent - I was on holiday in Gran Canaria a few years back and we met these guys from Finland. Ever so nice, and in spite of the lighthearted tone of voice, one of them said:

"Is always dark in winter. In Finland, people are committing suicide all of the time!"

Apparently Finland has one of the highest rates of depression and suicide in Europe, and it's no wonder given how dark their winters are!

My SAD is very affected by the weather - my lightbox does help, but there's no substitute for glorious sunshine. Most days, you can take one look at the sky and know what mood i'm going to be in. It's been pretty bright the last couple of days in London, so i've been a bit more chipper than recent!





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories