Seasonal Affective Disorder - The Winter Blues

Day-length is a cue to sing, spawn, migrate, flower. Sunlight affects plants, animals and humans. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, follows the seasons. As days shorten, our biological clock shifts. Winter depression is probably caused by our body's reaction to a lack of sunlight. A sleep-related hormone, melatonin, which may cause symptoms of depression, is produced at increased levels in the dark. The most common type of SAD is called winter depression.

	Everyone doesn't suffer from SAD. Traditionally the time to visit friends, ski on moonlit nights, or dance the night away, many looked forward to winter's dark, starlit hours. Winter? We live it. In the winter we look forward to having feasts, to celebrating. -Lillian Elvsaas, Seldovia
Winter Dance at the Schoolhouse William Wakeland Collection Pratt Museum Photo Archives

Courtesy of Janet R. Klein Happy Box by Alaska Northern Lights

Light has been shown to suppress the brain's secretion of melatonin, so many people respond to this treatment.