The dark days of winter could lead to seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as the winter blues. It's a depression that affects millions of people every year.
Right now, there's a study being done with people in Vermont to help deal with SAD.
"Fatigue or feeling excessively tired is probably the most universal symptom," Associate Professor of Psychology Kelly Rohan said.
SAD is a type of depression. Those suffering from it have the urge to sleep more, and often feel run-down, unmotivated, and unfocused. About one third of suffers have suicidal thoughts. What makes SAD different from regular depression is it only happens during the fall and winter.
"In SAD there is a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak," Rohan said. "People know that they're going to improve in the spring, so it doesn't breed the same kind of hopelessness like in non-seasonal depression."
Rohan is also a professor at UVM and has studied SAD for more than a decade. She says sufferers count down the days to winter solstice, December 21, when daylight hours seem to disappear.
"The further away from the equator, the more prevalent SAD is. For example - maybe one percent of people in Florida will suffer from it, while up here in Vermont 9%-10%," Rohan said.
Currently Rohan is conducting a four year study comparing light therapy, the most common form of treatment, to a new cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. More than 100 adults will be randomly assigned to either six weeks of light therapy, or six weeks of talk-therapy.
"When feeling depressed, people tend to have very negative thoughts about themselves: the world, the future, and in SAD, about how bad the winter is. So we work to identify those thoughts and challenge them change them into things less negative, and more positive in connotation," Rohan said.
Those selected for light therapy use a light that gives off the same amount of energy as a morning sunrise. During the trial, participants must sit with the device 18 inches from their eyes for 30 minutes when they wake up every morning.
This is Rohan's third time doing the comparison study. She says short-term, both treatments are effective, but the talk-therapy has better long-term outcomes.
"We believe this means people learn skills that they take with them into the next winter to try and fortify themselves against a relapse," Rohan said.
There are other ways to combat the winter blues, according to Rohan:
- Talk walks outside
- Exercise as much as possible
- Don't indulge in foods loaded in carbohydrates
