Welcome back to the darkest timeline. How to stay sane this winter
You've scarcely finished your Halloween candy and pan de muerto and are just starting to contemplate this year's holiday decor. Unfortunately, the grimmest of all annual holidays is upon us: the end of daylight saving time.
Welcome back to the darkest timeline.
At 2 a.m. Sunday, the clocks roll back an hour and the bleak winter days descend. Farewell, post-6 p.m. sunsets. Hello, feeling like it's 10 p.m. by the time you sit down for dinner.
It shouldn't have to be this way. And in California, we voted for it to not be: In 2018, 60% of voters said yes to a proposition to leave daylight saving time in place year-round. Most people hate changing the clocks, and the "spring forward, fall back" ritual doesn't actually help farmers or schoolchildren. Yet the tradition persists, and the vote was unfortunately not binding. Could we fix this at the federal level? Yes. But we haven't. Blame political inertia.
If I sound a little cranky about this, well, it's that time of year too. The shorter, colder, grayer days contribute to as many as 20% of Americans reporting "winter blues" every year. Between 4% and 6% of Americans develop symptoms that rise to the level of seasonal affective disorder — or, appropriately enough, SAD.
"We are no different than flowers and plants," said Erin Raftery Ryan, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Westside Los Angeles. "If we don't get enough vitamin D, oftentimes we too will wilt."
Symptoms of SAD include depression, increased appetite (particularly craving carbohydrates), weight gain, fatigue, excessive sleep and decreased sociality. Many of the symptoms overlap with clinical depression, but SAD happens only during fall and winter.
Lawrence A. Palinkas is a professor of social policy and health at USC who's studied seasonal affective disorder as well as the psychological effects of things like isolation, space missions and polar expeditions. SAD, he explained, is caused by prolonged exposure to darkness and cold temperatures, which disrupt our neuroendocrine systems, particularly the hormones that regulate mood. Basically: When we turn back our wall clocks, our internal clocks are getting thrown off too.
This year's time change lands its blow amid another pandemic winter and all the psychological symptoms and traumas we've endured in the last two years. People are already dealing with increased weight gain and alcohol consumption and financial upheaval on top of the effects of isolation, loss and trauma, Palinkas said. We're primed for a sort of psychological hibernation that modern life doesn't afford us.
How to stay on top of your mental health this fall and winter
You don't need to see a doctor or receive a formal diagnosis to try these at-home strategies for maintaining good mental health this time of year.
Here's one that hits on a lot of blues-beating strategies: Commit to a lunchtime stroll a few times a week. You get the benefit of exercise plus a dose of natural sunlight. Raftery Ryan said to aim for about three hours of sunshine per week to alleviate SAD symptoms. (And yes, you still have to wear sunscreen: Studies show preventing skin cancer probably does not negate vitamin D absorption.)
Other strategies recommended by experts include:
Brighten up your living space. Go through your home and workspace and see if there are ways to let in more of the season's limited light. Can you move your desk or kitchen table closer to a sunnier spot? Can you move sunlight-blocking furniture out of the windows? What if you swapped out heavy curtains for sheer ones?
Exercise. Physical movement can be a boon to mental health. Don't worry about maxing out your heart rate or committing to intense sweat sessions. Gentle movement can be as beneficial to your brain as a more intense activity.
"Whether it's yoga, whether it's walking, whether it's stretching — movement in general will help to get in the body and start to open up the parts of us that may start to feel stagnant," Simon said. It's about "keeping that energy moving through the body, keeping our blood flowing."
Meditation. I want to take a second here to acknowledge that it can be frustrating to hear "Have you tried exercise and meditation?" in response to mental health concerns. But there's a reason these recommendations come up over and over again: They are clinically proven to be effective, and they're free. So there's really no downside to trying.
Meditation doesn't have to be anything formal, though there are plenty of guided varieties on YouTube, Spotify, Headspace and elsewhere. Simon — who teaches meditation and mindfulness classes on Open, a fee-based website — said it can be as simple as checking in with yourself and asking, "How am I feeling today? Where am I? What's coming up for me? How am I tuning out? How can I tune in a little bit more in all of those things?"
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