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....

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.

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. 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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.