Psychiatrist tackles demons of Arctic winter darkness

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By Marko Leppänen
     
      Wednesday and Thursday, December 21st and 22nd, are the shortest days of the year. Kaamos, the period of winter darkness when the sun does not appear at all in the northernmost part of Finland, is at its darkest. However, that is also when the pendulum swings and starts to move toward the sunlit nights of the summer.
      The reminder should be a comfort at least to that ten percent of Finns who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - winter depression induced by a lack of sunlight. Probably just about everyone complains about the darkness to some degree.
      "If at all possible, people should get out for a walk during the daylight hours", says Simo Saarijärvi, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Turku.
     
Typical symptoms of SAD include constant fatigue, sleeping disorders, and a downcast demeanour. The craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods increases, which can also be reflected in body weight.
      Saarijärvi says that it is no coincidence that Christmas, with its heavy consumption of food and typical inactivity, takes place during the darkest time of the year.
      People suffering from winter depression also find temporary solace in Christmas.
      "Christmas brings a long-awaited break. People eat, drink, and sleep", Saarijärvi explains.
      "At the time we resemble a hibernating animal, a mammal of the north, and that is what we are."
     
Darkness affects people's state of mind, because it encourages the production of melatonin - the "darkness hormone" - in the brain.
      "There is an interesting dilemma related to the matter", Saarijärvi says with scientific enthusiasm.
      "Melatonin is a derivative of serotonin, which boosts a person's state of mind, but for some reason, those with winter depression have a combination of low serotonin and high melatonin levels. No explanation has been found for this paradox."
      SAD is three times as frequent among women as it is among men. "It would seem to be linked with women's sex hormones, because the condition eases after menopause."
      Difficult cases are treated with the help of bright lights, medication, and short-term psychotherapy. A few thousand years of evolution can also help.
      "The Sámi [indigenous Lapps] do not see the winter darkness as much of a problem. They have adapted to it genetically."
     
In an agrarian society, people would take it easy during the winter, building up energy for the spring. Today's high-pressure society has no sense of seasonal rhythm.
      "The neon lights of the city are on day and night. The global economy does not allow for long periods of idleness", Saarijärvi explains.
      He sees some good in the dark period.
      "For me, the time without light is a time to turn inward and charge my batteries."
      "Artists, such as Jean Sibelius, have linked the winter darkness with creativity. Although the composer found that he suffered from depression during the darkness, he also experienced the period as a fountainhead of new ideas."
     
A tendency toward melancholia does not seem to be an exclusively Finnish characteristic. In Canada, for instance, wintertime depression is a familiar phenomenon, and has been researched extensively.
      The University of Turku has a research group specialised in SAD, and a doctoral thesis on the regional distribution of the phenomenon is expected soon. Saarijärvi hopes that in the future funds would be available for a brain scan study on the issue.
      "The phenomenon will not be resolved permanently before we get inside the head."
      In addition to the winter darkness issue, Saarijärvi is currently focusing on youth psychiatry and alexithymia. The latter refers to emotions for which no words can be found.
     
Saarijärvi, who originally came from Sodankylä in the far north of Finnish Lapland, was not aware that the winter darkness was a problem until he moved to the south of the country. This personally-experienced paradox finally got him interested in the topic.
      "I read articles about winter depression and I thought that life in the Lapp winter was not nearly as miserable as in the slush and sleet of the south. Up in the north, there is genuine darkness as well as the aurora borealis and the stars shining above a gleaming blanket of snow."
      What are the professor's own tricks for coping with the winter darkness?
      "Work, work, and work", he laughs. "Also, outdoor exercise, classical music, reading, and idleness."
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.12.2005


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Not Darkness at Noon: Kaamos tempts tourists up north to Lapland (22.1.2002)
  BACKGROUND: Light therapy can ease symptoms of SAD (22.1.2002)
  FACTFILE: What IS this kaamos thing? And the Midnight Sun? (22.1.2002)
  More light, Lipponen! (14.11.2000)

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