The Nordic countries are no strangers to the long, dark winter, and some people’s “winter blues” can begin as early as October and last into April, experts said in an Associated Press interview ahead of the winter solstice.
The winter solstice will occur Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won’t be over for a while yet, and multiple specialists described ways they said people can cope mentally and physically during the darkest months.
Maintaining sleep and social habits, according to Dr. Timo Partonen, is a starting point. Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the dark winter affects the circadian rhythm, and that with limited daylight, internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly—throwing off sleep. He said people may sleep longer in winter but do not wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.
Partonen recommended trying a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up a bedroom and ease people awake. He also said that beyond fatigue, winter can bring social changes: people may withdraw from others, become more irritable, and be more prone to fights with friends. “It’s important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.”
Keeping up exercise was another focus. Partonen said exercise is key to combating the winter blues and suggested inviting a friend along for a workout. He added that wintertime weight gain, which he said typically ranges from 2 to 5 kilograms (4 to 11 pounds) a year, is often linked to cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.
The AP report also highlighted light therapy as an option in dealing with seasonal depression, including seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. It said millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression, and that SAD episodes typically begin in fall and ease in spring or summer. The report said medical experts also recognize a milder form, subsyndromal SAD, and that there is also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.
Researchers described a possible biological pathway involving light. The report said specialized cells in the eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness, and that sunlight is loaded with blue light. As those cells absorb it, the report said, the brain’s alertness centers can be activated, leaving people feeling more awake and possibly happier.
In related research, the AP said researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, the report said, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months, which it said suggests a cause for wintertime depression.
For treatment guidance, the report turned to Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, who suggested light therapy not only for SAD but also for people with milder “winter blues.” Benedict said, “It’s not like it’s a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it,” adding, “There are possibilities to affect it.” The report said a routine of morning light therapy using devices emitting light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.
Benedict said light therapy helps kickstart the circadian rhythm and increases serotonin in the brain. The report said research supports using a light of about 10,000 lux for 30 minutes every morning, and that special lights typically run from $70 to $400; it also said some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. It further said insurance companies might cover at least part of the cost if someone has been diagnosed with SAD.
Partonen suggested pairing approaches. He recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon. The AP report also pointed readers to resources, saying Yale has tested products and offers a list of recommendations, and that the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide to selecting a light.
The report included a broader theme around outlook and routines. Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Tromsø, also known as the Arctic University of Norway, said it is crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it and to appreciate the change in seasons. She said prioritizing a positive outlook can make all the difference when there is very little daylight for months, and called it a typical Norwegian way of thinking—saying, “It’s part of the culture.”
Solhaug said people should take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, including “hygge,” the Danish focus on getting cozy indoors, and “fika,” the traditional Swedish coffee break, after a movie. She said even during cloudy days, a quick walk in fresh air will help, and she described how she tries to jump into frigid waters off the coast of Tromsø at least once a week, saying it makes her feel revitalized during the long winter. “Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness,” she said.
The AP report said Tromsø is 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, and noted a common Nordic saying that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. It also included advice from Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, who in an Associated Press interview last month described a sequence of routines—an ice bath, followed by a sauna, then another ice bath and sauna, a shower, and going out—saying, “Take an ice bath and then followed up by a sauna and do one more ice bath, one more sauna, then a shower and go out there. You’ll manage.”
The AP report ran as part of the outlet’s Be Well coverage, which focuses on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health.