Day 5

Looking at the forecasted temperatures for the week ahead in the UK gives me the chills. One thing I don’t miss about the sprawling metropolis, which is my birthplace, are the long cold winters. Yes the snow fall has come early this year in Northern England but the cold and the rain will be around until April at least; does this kind of prolonged winter have a negative effect on those affected ? How do residents of communities as far away as Canada for example deal with the extended periods of snowfall which make UK winters seem mild in comparison? I remember reading an article many years ago which referred to S.A.D. – “Seasonal Affect Disorder.” This is something which would explain a lot for many people, so with my hot beverage for company once more I’ll Search-“seasonal affect disorder” and see what we get. Wow! This really is a hot subject out there with 1.63million results.

Basically from all the stuff out there we can glean the following interesting facts and statistics:

SAD is something which can affect you at the same time each year and could make you feel moody anxious grumpy and, of course, sad; you may lose the desire to do your usual stuff; you may sleep more and get drowsy during the day. You may crave high carbohydrate foods such as pasta and bread and subsequently put on a few pounds around the middle. In countries with long and clear cut seasonal changes it is reported that 6% of the population could be affected with SAD. Another fact to note is that 60-90% of those affected are women. Children are not so susceptible to the symptoms. In warmer climates such as Cyprus and those nearer to the equator the condition is rarely seen. Have no fear you are not alone and there seem to be ways to combat it.

 One type of remedy is that of light therapy and would be used for the whole season. Essentially there are two types of the therapy; ‘Bright Light’ which involves sitting in front of a custom made light-box for half an hour each morning. The other is ‘Dawn’ therapy which is a light source which comes on at a predetermined hour and behaves like a sunrise increasing in brightness as time goes by. There are also portable light sources which can placed on your desk at work at these are compact and unobtrusive. The downside of course is that the therapy needs to be used every year for the whole of the winter season. Of course the most drastic and life changing remedy would be to emigrate to warmer climes; not for everybody!

Get a light-Be happy.