”Winter depression is a disorder of the internal clock”

The long darkness makes many people feel blue

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By Minna Pölkki
     
      Following a couple of cold days, a thin layer of white frost is covering the village of Leppävirta in Northern Savo.
      The scenery looks a little brighter, even though the days are getting shorter and shorter.
      Many people experience depressive symptoms in the darkness of autumn.
      They feel like curling up under a blanket in the corner of the sofa with a mug of tea in the hand, waiting for the spring.
      Not for nothing is November known in Finnish as marraskuu - the dead month. This is a time of year that takes its toll on everyone, and the prospects are that it will only get worse.
     
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a diagnosed mood disorder, a subclass of depression.
      Its symptoms include continuous drowsiness, sleeping disorders, sadness, as well as a craving for carbohydrates and sweets.
      Adjunct Professor Jarmo Laitinen from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Kuopio estimates that a small percentage of the entire population suffers from seasonal affective disorder.
     
”The most effective treatment for winter depression is bright-light therapy. In other words, the seasonal mood variations experienced by SAD sufferers are caused by the lack of light”, Laitinen notes.
      Darkness can also lead to less severe symptoms.
      ”One tends to be more tired in the morning when it is still dark”, says Linda Kuivalainen, a student at the upper secondary school in Leppävirta.
      She goes to school in the morning when it is dark, and comes back late in the afternoon when it is dark again.
      Professor Laitinen believes that the amount of light has some effect on all people’s mood.
     
According to Laitinen, the body’s internal clock needs a synchronization on a daily basis.
      The light has a strong effect on the internal clock, and it is registered by the eyes. However, during the darkness of autumn, the internal clock is out of synchronization.
      ”According to one theory, winter depression is an abnormality in the rhythm of the internal clock. The eye does not receive the necessary signals when there is no light”, Laitinen argues.
      Laitinen himself uses a bright-light lamp in the autumn. In the future, it could be possible to wear glasses equipped with a small blue light which gives signals to the light receptor in the eye.
     
New tricks could be needed, as global warming and later and later snow-cover bode increasingly dark autumns that are problematic for mental health.
      The gloom of November threatens to spill over into December, when by rights things should be cheered up not only by Christmas but by a blanket of white.
      In Leppävirta, Mirja Ahponen and her friend Helena Oksman have discovered ways of their own to prevent winter depression.
      ”Candles bring light into the darkness”, Ahponen says.
      ”And when you meet good friends it helps and there is no need for candles”, Oksman adds.
      Leila Ärväs-Martikainen and Matti Martikainen are trying to make the most of the dark season.
      ”Perhaps we tend to make more highly-seasoned food than normal”, Ärväs-Matikainen says.
      ”Yes, the chili jar is in frequent use”, Martikainen continues, while the wife adds: ”Hot mulled wine can be used for warming up.”
     
     
FACTFILE: Only a few hours of light every day
     
Sunrise in Helsinki: 9.09 a.m. Sun set: 3.15 p.m. (8.12.2009)
     
Sunrise in Oulu: 10.08 a.m. Sun set: 2.11 p.m.
     
In Utsjoki in Northern Lapland there's no point waiting: the sun will not come up again until mid-January. The twilight time of kaamos set in for the duration in the last week of November. Of course, there are compensations in the summer...
     
Before the winter solstice (December 21st) arrives, the days will shorten in Helsinki and Oulu by another 30 minutes or so. After that, it's downhill all the way to Midsummer.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.12.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Depression expert: Finns should use more medications (28.10.2008)
  Using the Internet to tame the "black dog" of depression (7.4.2009)
  Depression forces young Finns to take disability pension (9.12.2008)

Links:
  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) (Wikipedia)
  Kaamos - the Polar Night (Wikipedia)

MINNA PÖLKKI / Helsingin Sanomat
minna.polkki@hs.fi