The days are short, the sun a spark,
Hung thin between the dark and dark.
– John Updike
It’s not the most uplifting of lines, those few words from American poet, John Updike. But then again, going back over centuries of poetry, can you think of many verses that celebrate the joy and happiness of winter? Springtime gets all the glory, in that regard.
So, it seems, the phenomenon of Seasonal Affective Disorder, now acknowledged by psychological associations across the world, may have been identified in more poetic terms by many of the great bards of times past, as they explored the workings of the mind and soul.
This weekend, there will be no escaping the short days, “hung thin between the dark and dark”, as the clocks will be turned back by an hour and the winter blues sets in. And if you find yourself affected in this way, a downturn in your mood, a reduction of energy and levels of motivation, Professor Jim Lucey's advice on Seasonal Affective Disorder – or SAD –may well be worth listening back to.
“It’s more common than people realise. About 3% of the population have a depressive phenomenon induced by the onset of autumn and winter and relieved by the arrival of spring. It’s in addition to, or separate from, other factors, stresses and strains in their lives. It’s not exactly something that is made up, it is something that is different from our general discontent with the cold or darkened evenings.”
Jim Lucey is Medical Director of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services and was a guest of Keelin Shanley on the Today programme. He took listeners through some of the causes of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which can be psychological, social, or biological.
The biological is possibly the most interesting of those causes, according to Jim, as it arises from a fluctuation in a hormone called melatonin, arising from the hypothalamus, a structure in the deep part of the brain. This fluctuation is triggered by the change of light in the environment.
” You have a biological event causing an intra-cerebral event, a hormonal reaction. If you have a total reduction in the amount of actual light in your day, it does impact on your melatonin secretion.”
That said, you cannot take anything in isolation, in clinical diagnostics. If SAD were taken in isolation, it would seem obvious that countries with greater absences of light, Scandinavian countries for example, should have greater incidence of seasonal affective disorder. However, this is not the case. So SAD must always be considered in the context of somebody’s overall psychological well-being.
So, what can be done about it?
Well, as ever, it is always better to start by talking about it, sharing the problem. Talk to a loved one, a family friend, a partner, a family physician, but most of all tell someone. Mild degrees of distressing symptoms can also be relieved by taking small practical steps, including greater self-care, taking more exercise, eating better and seeking out greater sources of positive life-affirming company. In that way, SAD may be like any other mild depression.
More severe cases where symptoms are persistent and pervasive and where low mood is associated with consequences such as impaired concentration, loss of weight or suicidal thoughts, may indicate a need for more active treatment.
And if a reduction in daylight can cause melancholy, can the opposite be true? Can we have an uplift, come Spring? Yes, we can, according to Prof. Jim Lucey.
Unfortunately, that uplift will have to wait. Clocks go back this weekend, the days will be shorter, the darkness coming earlier. And many months before you hear Irish people saying, “isn’t there a grand stretch in the evenings?”
Still, Halloween and Christmas in between. Chin up, everybody!
To listen to the full interview, click here.