Jessie’s been asking me to write something on why this year’s change in Daylight Saving Time (it came three weeks early) may make us depressed, delaying the relief from the winter blues that we get with lovely spring sunshine. Essentially this change in DST has effectively set us back to mid-January, in terms of morning sunshine.
Since the mid 80s there has been a lot of focus on the effects of seasons on moods, with the emergence of a diagnostic label for winter depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. No one knows the exact cause of SAD, says Michael Terman director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, but there are distinct patterns of winter depression lifting in the spring. And the key for a rise in mood, Terman says, is not simply the length of daylight hours, but the earlier onset of morning light. The most striking evidence is Terman’s research that shows there is more depression on the western edges of time zones in the U.S., where the sun rises later.
So this year’s change in Daylight Saving Time (DST), coming three weeks early, may actually extend the winter doldrums, said both Terman and David Avery, professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Turning our clocks ahead one hour effectively puts us back to waking in darkness.
“In Seattle for example, the effect would be that in early March, the clock would spring ahead and sunrise would be occurring at about 7:50 a.m., similar to the time of sunrise on January 19th!” wrote Avery in a recent letter to congress, pointing out that this change may have a detrimental effect on peoples’ moods, especially those suffering from SAD.
Want to read more about this?
See this article from LA Times.
This entry was written by , posted on March 10, 2007 at 5:03 am, filed under Home. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
i love it when i throw you a mystery, you *always* get to heart of things.
however, Michael Terman can tell it to my ear-to-ear grin. the sun and 50-degree weather has made my mood change from apocalyptic to… sunny.
clearly, this waking in darkness problem only occurs in people that get up before 9 a.m. as a fearless writer & hit-songmaker, i am morally opposed.
however, i’m curious how it affects moods to live in places where light & darkness are rather constant year-round. in brasil, i never got used to it being 90 degrees but the sun setting at 6 p.m. sharp. radically changed my sense of timing & summer.
*however* my preliminary theory is that people who live near the equator are HAPPIER.
let’s go research eh?
jessie
yeah, you hit on the right question, just like a good scientist. Want to know about the effects of changing seasons? Then go to where they never change at all. I asked around about this – apparently there are other weather-related influences, like rainfall, that have their own effects on mood near the equator. More reporting required.
- thanks Jessie
This climate thing has really touched on the national psyche. When they introduced DST, it would have been for reasons of economy. Now, for a second time, Congress has used it’s considerable weight to lean on the hands of time. Economics: the only existing time-machine to date.
Throw a girl a mystery, and look what she digs up.
Very interesting, indeed.
I am really surprised by your article. The early Daylight Savings Time has made me feel like I am one step closer to spring. I look forward to leaving work knowing there will still be light. Do that many people wake up before the sunrise?