Society. Clock change: when winter weighs on your mood

On the last Sunday of October, we gained an hour's sleep. But from the next day, night fell an hour earlier. Until the winter solstice on 21 December, the days will keep getting shorter. Many people feel it: more tiredness, less energy, a wish to withdraw and to eat more, especially sweet things.

From winter blues to seasonal depression

For most people, it is simply the "winter blues", annoying but temporary. For others, the symptoms are stronger and come back every year at the same time: sadness, loss of interest in things that used to bring pleasure, needing much more sleep, weight gain, difficulty concentrating. This is known as seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder.

According to a review published in La Revue du praticien, it affects 1 to 3% of the population, and up to 30% in its milder forms. It affects about three women for every man, and becomes more common the further one is from the equator, in other words with lack of light.

It is not so much the cold that weighs on our mood, but the lack of light.

Light, the first ally

Daylight plays a key role in setting our internal clock and our mood. Going outside every day, even when it is grey, especially in the morning, is one of the most effective things you can do. Physical activity, regular sleep times and keeping in touch with others also help to get through the season.

For seasonal depression, light therapy is the reference treatment: daily exposure to a 10,000-lux lamp for about thirty minutes in the morning, for a few weeks. It should be done on medical advice, especially in case of eye problems or certain medications.

When it is not just the season

If the sadness is deep, lasts more than two weeks, comes with dark thoughts or does not improve in spring, it may not only be the season. A doctor can assess the situation. And a space to talk helps to understand what winter reawakens: loneliness, a loss, a tiredness that comes from further back.

This article is for information only. It replaces neither a consultation nor a diagnosis, which is a doctor's role.