SAD in Oz
 

A feature earlier in the day on Sky news here in the UK, highlighted the fact that up to 1 in 50 of us in the UK gets affected by SAD (seasonal affective disorder..for those who don't know) during the autumn/winter months and particularly once the clocks go back

Symptoms are similar to those of depresssion and include mood swings, lack of energy, disrupted sleep patterns, irritability, lack of concentration etc etc

It is claimed that a 'brisk walk' during the day or the use of a 10,000 lux 'light box' can ease and even eliminate symptoms and make us much less of a grouch to be around!

It is also claimed that people living in 'Northern' countries are more prone to this condition, whereas the closer you live to the equator, the less people seem to be affected

As someone who dreads the 'dark nights' and seemingly constant greyness of the British winter (hence the decision to consider a move to Oz) I just wondered whether SAD is something that affects people in Oz or whether anyone has even heard of it out there???

Rgds

BD

PS Having just witnessed the blue skies and bright colours of the Sunshine Coast while watching 'A Place in The Sun' on Sky TV, it occurred to me that Oz can not come soon enough!!! (We're due out there in March '06!)

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Errr....well...

I feel 'sad' now and have all the 'symptons' but it aint cos of the daylight.. :(

A point though...

We need daylight as we absorb Vitamin K which is essential to our bodies.

Also the 'brisk walk' you talk about increases ones heart rate thus increasing the 'feel good factor' (happy hormones) one gets from exercise.

Ok, but what do I know?? I know nuthing!! I read all that in Womans Weekly! :D

Ill go now... :o

TF

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Yep

People in Australia get it too.

http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s1399382.htm

G

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Hi there,

Just a small point though (Im in Perth)

Its Spring coming into Summer here...daylight hours have increased..

TF :confused:

(Yes I know...Im just homesick! :o )

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I had never heard of it before :confused: .

But then we dont get grey days in winter very often, mostly sunny blue skies for months :) .

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I think the sun makes you feel better. I was one who hated the miserable grey days in England and I always feel so much better when it is sunny. I don't think I suffered from SAD but even here if it is a miserable grey day, I feel down. SOmeone said to be before we came that we would get fed up of it being sunny all the time..............but I certainly don't.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

SAD exists - a friend of my Husband's has been diagnosed by his Doctor and has to use a light box.

It was last winter when my husband and I decided we would emigrate. We were both feeling really low and decided leaving home in the morning in the dark and returning home in the evening in the dark was simply too much to bear.

The children don't want to go outside when its cold wet a rainy (we've tried locking the back door) and they go stir crazy inside. Everything you do with them in the winter costs a fortune - 60 pound plus for a trip to the cinema (tickets, sweets and drinks).

Who wants to exercise when it's cold outside - easiest thing in the world is to curl up on the sofa to watch tv in the warm and dry, but that depresses you because you're not doing anything constructive or particularly enjoyable. So you eat more - put on weight - drink more - put on weight. No wonder by March your depressed! :eek:

Re: SAD in Oz
 

GOOD THREAD :) SOMETHING THAT I HAVE WANTED TO KNOW FOR SOME TIME NOW IS THE LENGTH OF DAYLIGHT HOURS IN OZ, I AGREE THAT HERE IN THE WINTER MONTHS WE ARE JUST ABOUT SCRATCHING ROUND IN THE DARK, WATCHING TOO MUCH TV AND EATING LOADS! SO WHAT TIME DOES THE SUN SET ON AVERAGE IN PERTH'S WINTER / SUMMER MONTHS IN COMPARISON TO OVER IN THE UK'S, I WONDER BECAUSE WHEN WE HAVE BEEN ON HOLIDAY IN FLORIDA WE NOTICED THE DAYS WERE SHORTER THAN IN THE UK,(THE SUN GOES DOWN SHORTLY AFTER 6)
THANKS :rolleyes:

Re: SAD in Oz
 

The clocks have just changed here so if I remember from last year it will start getting dark at 7pm now. Mid summer tends to be 8ish.. It gets dark fast as well and in Melbourne the temperature drops a fair bit too.
Sometimes I long for the long English summers and the cold dark winters but not for the grey murky months in the middle :D

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Hi all

Its nice in Manchester when it gets dark at 930 ish, during the summer. But your right the cold murk in between and the bloody wind and rain says it all really...I crave for winter holidays so I can get some respite but I really couldnt face growing old in England just because of he climate. Dont get me wrong, I love England and I am proud of my heritage and proud to be British but its just the bloody climate i HATE IT. AND thats why I want to emmigrate.

Justin

ps SOrry for the waffle - thats cuase I have had beer lol....to many :beer: :beer:

Re: SAD in Oz
 

i suffered quite badly from it in Scotland, but i'm not bothered by it here. But the cold, damp and long winters do still play havoc with my arthritis which makes me just as grumpy as SAD did :)

Lynn

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Melbourne does quite well in the summer night stakes. It is currently getting dark just before 8 and will eventually get dark as late as 8.45 - only 45 mins less than the UK. It does, though, get dark at 5 in the winter rather than the 4.30 in the UK so I suppose you could say it balances out.

I live in QLD and miss the summer nights of the Bleak city.

NQR

Re: SAD in Oz
 

hope you wont be dissapointed here - compared to Manchester there is no history- and lots of traffic (Melbourne is probably worse than Manchr) and expected very long working hours compared to UK - yes the weather is great but its extreme - very very hot indeed. Think carefully before you move! But the very best of luck!

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I suffered with SAD in Uk, Now I live in Melbourne.

I felt fine when i arrived here in Feb, but then I got SAD around June, July and Aug here, although not half as bad as i did in UK.

Now though I feel fantastic and get out of bed around 6am each morning. During the winter months I really had to force myself out of bed and did alot of sikkies (which are like extra holidays here) so yes you do still get it but not as bad and not for as long.

Laura

Re: SAD in Oz
 

And for every one that hates it here theres one that loves it.

Best city in the world I reckon.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

i'll second that Boardy, I love it here, probably wont bother moving to Perth now, will stay here!!!!

Weather is brill, traffic nowt compared to UK....

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Good on ya Laura, Melbourne definetly grows on you, it doesn't have the stunning sights of Sydney but thank God it doesn't have the traffic either.
Perth is nice, I enjoyed my visit there but a bit quiet at night, was good to get back to the best city in Aus.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Sorry to disappoint but you can't have your long summer daylight hours in Oz - something to do with latitude or something like that. By all means go for 50 degree plus latititude but take the other things that go with it as well. :D Probably Queensland has shorter daylight hours because it is closer to the equator or something like that.

SAD is a factor in Oz - one of the reasons why a lot of Victorians head for Queensland in winter - not for longer daylight hours but for warmer temperatures.

OzTennis :)

Re: SAD in Oz
 

BobbyDazzler

This condition is believed to be caused by lack of light. Although Australia doesn't get the early darkness we get in the UK during the winter, it conversely does not get the long daylight hours in the summer. Whereas parts of the UK can be light until well after 11:00 in the summer, there is nothing like this in Australia due to its geographical proximity to the equator.

If the depression that SAD sufferers feel is cause by lack of light alone, it is doubtful that moving to Australia will help. However, if it is a condition caused primarily by lack of light, but also by the general depressing circumstances of a British winter i.e. cold, damp, wet, windy, then I suspect moving to Australia may well help.

Either way, worth a try, no?

Good luck
T.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I have just come from Scotland where I am sure you would agree we suffer more so from SAD than anyone in the UK.
I was aware of SAD but fortunately didn't suffer from it ( nearly started selling the boxes nearly 14 yrs ago )
We have now moved to Melbourne and arrived at the bginning of Winter. I will take Melbourne winters anytime. Nothing in comparrison to Scotland. When it rains it rains but it will be over with in an hour or so. So far I haven't had to deal with days on end of rain.
Here I have noticed that the weather men are more accurate. ( I know the reasons )
SAD for me effects a specific type of person. Sorry to be so blunt.

I think everyone gets depressed about the weather but not all let it effect their daily lives.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

No offence but you obviously don't really know what you're talking about ;) You can have the happiest, chilled, positive person, who within a month or so of the clocks going back suffers depression, illness etc all due to SAD.

Just because you don't get it or understand it, don't assume it doesn't happen.

I don't get depressed, bit grumpy maybe :rolleyes:and I am very much a glass half full type of person but my migraines are far worse in winter than summer and it is purely down to being cold and stressed and I am convinced that the stress is worse the lower the level and colour of the clouds. Come spring and my muscles relax, my spine lengthens, spirits lift and I am a much much happier person.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Mmmmm....

I'm 100% with MoneyPen on this one

Saying SAD affects a certain type of person is like saying that a certain type of person goes to a gym. Are they 'fatties' or are they athletes who like to look after themselves???

I am assuming that you are trying to imply that people who suffer from SAD are manic depressive types for whom the glass is always half-empty, in which case you are sadly misguided or ill-advised, as has been borne out by roughly 20 years clinical research.

I also do not agree with your comment that everyone gets depressed by the weather, although it is correct that some *do* let it affect their lives

The 20 years research mentioned above has proved that SAD is a specific condition, unlike 'the winter blues' which is a general term used by people to describe the colder, wetter weather often associated with the British winter and the general lack of enthusiasm prevalent during this time.

In response to Tableland's reply, I believe that the (amount of) hours of daylight during the day is less significant, whereas the level (of brightness) of daylight is the key to fight off SAD

Although people may associate more time spent indoors (as a result of less daylight hours) with depressive symptoms, it is actually the massive reduction in the level of light 'hitting' the eyes, and the corresponding lack of release of a 'happy hormone' from the brain, which causes these symptoms to occur.

I believe that light boxes are used to increase this level of light hitting the eyes. As I understand it, a typical light box will emit 10,000 lux (the equivalent of a fine, sunny, Spring morning). Compare this to the level of brightness emitted by artificial lighting in an office, which is around 300 lux!!

Anyway, I won't bore you further with the technical details. I'm off to spend an hour infront of my 'Happy Lamp'
;)

Cheers

BD

Re: SAD in Oz
 

You could say it balances out :)

Every part of the world has the same number of daylight hours in a year regardless of where they live - the distribution over the day is what changes with the orbit of the earth. The nearer the equater you are the the nearer it become to 12 hrs per day - 6.00am - 6.00pm possibly. The farther away the more you are affected by the tilt of the earth in its orbit round the sun and the days grow shorter in winter and longer in summer. This is extremely simple.

I find the lack of light night here a real pain personally as I do not get home until 7.30 most nights from work I only enjoy an hours worth of summer night mid week for around two months of the year. Hardly time to run in get my glass of wine and get out on the balcony!!! And do not tell me to get up earlier I am on the bus at 7.30 each morning.

Cheers

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I hear what you are saying and do sympathise with those that suffer SAD however the last two posts do back up my argument about it effecting certain types of person. ( I don't want to pigeon hole anyone, but when you read through the posts they all seem rather similar arguments )

Maybe I am missing the point. Haven't looked into it as I have had no need to and my opinion is only that, an opinion........unfounded and probably only scratched the surface.

Sorry if I have offended anyone.

Re: SAD in Oz
 

I too came from Scotland, where I did notice a huge drop in happiness levels, in many people including myself, around the grey days. I'm not sure if I had SAD although I do know it effects many people. But since being on Gold Coast, I have noticed that on the occasional day when the skies are ominous a tension builds in my moods and on drizzle days, I do feel at a low ebb. Funnily enough though, I notice it more here as it happens that rarely. The sunshine here most definately puts a spring in my step and a smile on my fizzog! Overall, I'm much more able to not let things get on top of me here and I truly believe it is due to the sunshine. Smaller things were less copeable in UK. The weather effects moods so noticably for me. I always figured I was solar powered!

Re: SAD in Oz
 

Actually Manchester & Melbourne are both Victorian cities, but Manchester's key historical features are dark Satanic mills, living conditions so bad they assisted in the rise of communism (thanks Engels), state oppression of public protest (Peterloo massacre), lots of wartime bombing raids, architectural fooly (Hulme bullrings/Fort Ardwick etc) & an appalling gun & drug crime problem.