Wintertime can trigger true but transient depression in some people, a condition sometimes called Seasonal Affective Disorder. It's linked with lack of sunlight in winter and some scientists think affected people overproduce the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. Research suggests it affects about 6 percent of the U.S. population and rates are higher in Scandinavia. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach
AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach
Wintertime can trigger true but transient depression in some people, a condition sometimes called Seasonal Affective Disorder. It's linked with lack of sunlight in winter and some scientists think affected people overproduce the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. Research suggests it affects about 6 percent of the U.S. population and rates are higher in Scandinavia. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach
Wintertime can trigger true but transient depression in some people, a condition sometimes called Seasonal Affective Disorder. It’s linked with lack of sunlight in winter and some scientists think affected people overproduce the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. Research suggests it affects about 6 percent of the U.S. population and rates are higher in Scandinavia. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
If you’re sad, you might have SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. The condition manifests as noticeable mood shifts during the winter months when there is less light, which has a mild effect on serotonin levels. Doctors used to recommend eating more vitamin D, one of the few benefits of sun exposure, during the winter months to boost the moods of their patients. Even my mother — a nurse — used to say, “There’s no better place to be, than soaking up some D.”
Turns out, that’s junk science. (Sorry, mom.)
Though the amount of sun you get does influence your mood, it’s not likely that less vitamin D is the culprit. SAD also happens in the summer or spring, when there’s too much light. One Oxford Medicine study showed that less light in the winter (and more light in the summer) affects how much melatonin — a sleep hormone — we produce.
But it’s not just SAD that contributes to the seasonal blues. In fact, researchers say only about 6 percent of Americans suffer from SAD. The holidays are simply just a terrible, awful not very good time to be alone. It also doesn’t help Pennsylvanians are generally, well, depressed. Thirteen percent of Pa. seniors are reportedly depressed, according to a 2019 study done by the United Health Foundation. Last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield released a study that found since 2013, Pennsylvania had a 33 percent increase of doctors diagnosing depression in their patients. The highest increase was among millenials at 47 percent.
As a response, Pennsylvania’s Departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs, Human Services, Health, and Aging all have programs to help Keystone residents manage their depression during the season, such as using the Get Help Now Hotline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
For those that are simply looking for a quick pick-me-up, here are a few solutions:
Mental health professionals say meditation is one way to combat seasonal depression. University of Pennsylvania’s mindfulness program offers classes that teach how to meditate and focus inwards. There are rotating community courses offered throughout the year.
It took me 31 years to learn therapy was the best thing ever invented. Turns out, it’s also one of the best ways to combat seasonal depression alongside the holiday blues. Not so sure how you feel about therapy? Try a different form, such as art therapy. Here’s a list of places that have courses throughout the state.
Though it’s best to get diagnosed with SAD beforehand, you can easily purchase a phototherapy light online, which mimics outdoor light and is said to increase serotonin levels.
But doctors recommend most of all to continue doing things that keep you happy during the winter months. What do you do to combat the holiday blues? Tell us in our listening post here. For me, that’s listening to good music while ordering drinks served in a coconut by a beach-side waiter, soaking up some D.
Meh Happy holidays, everyone! — Joseph Darius Jaafari
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
President Donald Trump sits with the Navy midshipmen before the start of the annual Army-Navy college football game on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
OK, it’s not OK: President Trump attended the Army-Navy football game this weekend in Philadelphia, where the Navy Midshipmen won 31-7. As a Navy brat, this makes me happy. What wasn’t exciting to see was those cadets and midshipmen flagging white supremacy – the “OK” hand gesture – for the cameras while serving as backdrop for a TV sportscaster. For those who missed it, here’s the tweet that went viral. Stephanie Farr from The Inquirer reported out the dual meaning of the gesture, which started out as a 4chan hoax and evolved to be synonymous with far-right groups. One Army football official — a former player himself — took to Twitter to urge people to withhold judgment.
Fixing education: Six of the Democratic frontrunners for president were in Pittsburgh this weekend to discuss how they would approach reforming education. Joe Biden said teachers wouldn’t find a better friend in the White House, while Elizabeth Warren explained the details on her 2 percent tax on the wealthy, which would – among other things – help to forgive student loan debts for 43 million Americans. WESA pointed out there was a noticeable lack of representation from charter schools at the forum.
Another voting machine lawsuit: A lawsuit was filed Friday against the Department of State for its certification of a voting machine that has had a number of problems in the past. PA Post’s Emily Previti reports on the case – brought by 13 voters and two voting groups – and explains the privacy concerns with the machine and its crossover problems with another case against the department brought by former presidential candidate Jill Stein.
How will impeachment play out? Truth is, no one knows. The Post-Gazette (whose staff is still on a byline strike) reported on the difficulties comparing this current impeachment with past ones. With only two other impeachments to go off of, there’s hardly a trend anyone can track. What we can expect (and what we’ve seen so far) is similar party-line allegiances as we saw in the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, says Dave Chambers, a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Poor Erie: In a statewide “listening tour,” Pa. state Sen. Art Haywood went to five cities to find out more about how people living in poverty manage through their struggles. The tour was an attempt to understand how to make life easier for those living in close-to-poverty conditions, and resulted in a list of recommendations for the governor, including support for a $15 minimum wage. GoErie went to one of the meetings and spoke with Haywood to hear some takeaways from his visit to the city.
