Last week the US became the latest country to go through the annual ritual of setting the clocks back one hour. That adds the US population to the millions of other people in the Northern Hemisphere that see the sun routinely setting around, or even before, 5pm (in Fairbanks, Alaska sunset is 3:58pm today).
SAD
Shorter and darker days can quite literally have an effect on all of our mental health. Seasonal Affective Disorder, which might have the most appropriate acronym ever (SAD), is a type of depression common in countries where days are shorter — and it even shows up in Google data. People search for "depression" approximately 25-30% more in the winter months relative to the summer — although Google search data is of course only a very crude measure of how people are actually feeling across a population.
SAD is surprisingly common. Around 5% of US adults are thought to affected by SAD and it manifests itself like all other types of depression; low-energy, anxiety, over-eating, sluggishness and feelings of melancholy or apathy.
So as the days get shorter keep an eye on your friends, family and yourself — there are some good resources on SAD and its symptoms here, and some more general resources for depression here.
P.S. Great animated visual from Neil Kaye on hours of daylight around the world.
