Days are getting shorter; nights are getting longer. Every year the same. Although you are a bit more tired in winter, you also feel that this season has something cozy about it and after all you know that the sun will be back soon. Only what about people who do not feel this way? People who suddenly sleep more than normal and still do not feel rested. People who have difficulties with concentration and focus. People who crave carbohydrates and sugars and tend to gain weight due to overeating the delicious ice cream at Brynja.
Doctors and scientists would say those who are suddenly confronted with such and more severe problems, often experience a specific type of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is sometimes literally called Winter Depression. In most cases, Seasonal Affective Disorder starts in late fall and lasts throughout the winter while going away during the spring and summer months. Chances are you have already heard of this, considering that Seasonal Affective Disorder is a widespread topic in the countries located far from the equator in northern latitudes. The winters are long and dark in Iceland. What you might not yet know, however, is that Icelandic people seem to be very resistant to it. While in other Nordic countries, rates of Seasonal Affective Disorder are up to 10 %, in Iceland only 3.8 % of the population are affected by it. Well, at least according to scientists who studied rates in Iceland in 1993 which now is almost 30 years ago. We are thus looking at numbers from a time in which Inga performed “Þá veistu svarið” at the European Song Contest and the first episode of the American sitcom Friends did not yet air. I am not saying that old research is bad and cannot be trusted at all, however, replication of old studies can only make us more confident that findings are representative of Icelandic citizens today.
This opinion is shared by a group of researchers at the University of Akureyri and the University of Iceland who want to exactly check how many people in Iceland are experiencing changes in mood and behavior with the seasons. For this purpose, the Icelandic registry of inhabitants provided a list to the researchers which contains contact details of 15000 people with different ages and genders living all around Iceland. Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones on that list and already got contacted? Once people are called and are happy to participate, they receive a link via email which leads them to a short questionnaire asking them how things such as sleep, socialization, mood, weight, appetite, and energy differ throughout the year. While almost 1000 people have already participated, the researchers are optimistic that at least 5000 people, so one third of the big list, will fill in the survey within the next two years.
At this point you might be wondering, how did I read so far and still do not know why I could get depressed. I am young and love carbs but was the title just clickbait? Well, we are getting there. The researchers are taking their work one step further. Out of all people filling out the survey, 100 people who score high and 100 people who score low in seasonality will be contacted for the exciting, but also quite extensive, second part of the study. In this part, questions such as “What role plays the air around you?” will be answered. Believe it or not, prior research work has shown a relationship between air pollution and depression. Air pollution can be measured with a little device, called exposometer, that will be sentd to each participant’s house. For one week the exposometer will measure the air quality in the environment. At the same time the participants will be asked to fill out an electronic diary with questions about their mood and sleep. After this part, they will be asked to come to the universities, either in Akureyri or Reykjavik, or they will be visited in their rural area.
Now it gets particularly interesting. In the laboratory the participants will put on a device, called electroencephalogram (in short EEG), which basically looks like a shower cap that has many thin wires coming out of it. The secret behind this painless medusa-like helmet? It can measure the electrical signals of your brain. Connected to a computer it will show the researchers the participants’ brain waves displayed as many squiggly lines on a graph. While the researchers will not be able to read their participants’ thoughts, the EEG could help to find differences between people who are quite affected by the winter compared to people who are not. Prior work by the researchers showed that this is in fact possible, however, other data such as nutrition, physical activity and chronotype should also be considered. Chronotype, is a scientific term that describes whether you are a night owl (evening chronotype), a morning lark (morning chronotype), or both.
Based on results from prior studies, the researchers predict that high seasonality will be related to air pollution, younger age, evening chronotype, low mood already in summer, nutrition rich in carbohydrates and fat, low levels of exercise, and tendencies to often think deeply about something. That is a lot to take in, is it not? Well, the researchers want to be thorough and will even invite the participants four times per year, once in each season. If young, physically inactive and carb-loving night-owls of this study are in fact more likely to feel depressed in winter will only be established once the researchers finish their study and publish their results.
You would love to participate but were not yet contacted? For now, also adults who are not on that big list are welcome to fill in the brief survey by clicking here
Further information on the study can be found on the website of the University of Akureyri.
If you have any questions, you can also get in touch by sending an email to epicsad@unak.is