Midweek Mental Greening
People often associate becoming depressed during dark winter months with Seasonal Affective Disorder (or, SAD). SAD can actually affect people during any season, including the bright and sunny days during spring and summer months; however, according to a recent Swedish study, regardless of the similar symptoms, SAD doesn’t seem to be the culprit when it comes to the high number of suicides happening in places that experience extended sunlight like Sweden and Greenland.
The researchers speculated that light-generated imbalances in serotonin — the brain chemical linked to mood — may lead to increased impulsiveness that in combination with a lack of sleep drives people to kill themselves.
“We found that suicides were almost exclusively violent and increased during periods of constant day,” Bjorksten said in a statement.
What does this all mean?
Well, nothing for those folks who live in parts of the world that don’t experience extended summer seasons, but for those who do - especially those who already deal with mental health issues - it certainly means taking extra steps to prevent and combat insomnia, at the least.
“During the long periods of constant light, it is crucial to keep some circadian rhythm to get enough sleep and sustain mental health,” Karin Sparring Bjorksten of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and colleagues reported in the BioMed Central journal BMC Psychiatry.
As a raging insomniac who admittedly does very little in terms of trying to get more sleep, I’m not the best person to offer tips for overcoming insomnia and getting better sleep. Below, however, are several good resources - all of which include “greener” alternatives to things like prescription medication.
- Melatonin: A few months ago, I wrote about melatonin, an over-the-counter supplement that can help you get more sleep. I love it, but it’s certainly not the end-all solution to insomnia; it doesn’t even work for everyone. Still, for brief periods of insomnia, it might just be the answer. (As always, check with your doctor first.)
- Sleep Disorders and Insomnia: This series by Michael Bengston, M.D. includes information about insomnia and circadian rhythms, as well as tips for getting a good night’s sleep.
- Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep: Those who really want to dive into the mechanics of sleep can check out this resource from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
- 42 Simple Tips to Help You Get to Sleep: And, those who don’t have time for all that can skip straight to these 42 tips. Of particular interest - sex, massages, and belly rubs (?!).
- National Sleep Foundation: As if we can really call ourselves searching for information about sleep and sleep disorders without visiting the National Sleep Foundation!
Do you have any foolproof methods that help you fall asleep every time? Share with us!
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Links to This Article
Hypnosis Stops Sleep-Walking in its Tracks | Alternative Medicine Schools (7/19/2009)
3 Comments to
“Extended Periods of Sunlight Might Act as Suicide Trigger”
One dynamic to this could be the bipolar who is stimulated by increasing daylight and gets a manic or hypomanic episode, and then followed by a depressive episode that could lead to suicidality, especially when the person compares the depression now to the mania of previously as so wonderful.
When people compare the mountain of mania to the abyss of depression, it leads to trouble!
there is a upwards blip in the frequency of suicidality in April/May, as there is one in October as well. Environment is one factor to illness, and why people forget this is, well, sad.
@ therapyfirst - Thanks for chiming in 
Our environment (and wow - how deep into that we could dig!) definitely does play a role in mental health and I agree - it’s sad when people forget that.
This is an interesting study outcome but you should remember that if you have enough money and time you can prove almost anything with a psychology study.
There was an interesting event aboard the Belgian Polar Expedition of 1898. There was mass insanity while the ship was trapped in Antarctic polar ice for thirteen months. All but one man recovered when they worked outside for three months to chop the ship out of the ice. Dr Cook, ships physician, published an account in his book, “Through the First Antarctic Night.” His description of the symptoms resembles depression.
He blamed darkness during the Antarctic winter and then blamed constant sunlight when the symptoms increased with the return of the sun in the Antarctic summer.
But the actual cause was Subliminal Distraction. When many people are confined in too-small single-room situations they have an increased opportunity for SD exposure. The symptoms are fear, paranoia, panic attacks, depression and thoughts of suicide.
Cook described the cramped working situation, “The cabin is well aft; like the Commandant’s room, and the kitchen, it is on deck. … It is as if eight men stood up around a small table, and a box were built around them, the corners and walls and ceiling being lined with books and instruments.”
The recovery when they worked outside, rather than sitting together daydreaming in confined quarters, points to Subliminal Distraction. There was one case of permanent insanity in this incident. That suggests Subliminal Distraction as a major cause of mental illness.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 13 May 2009
