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I'm spending my day today in New Jersey. Wow, the sun seems low in the horizon even in the middle of the day now that we're in December. I gotta wonder how northern Europeans and Canadians deal with such a lack of light considering they are latitudinally further north than most of the continental US. A good Scottish friend tells me he grew up seeing 4 hours of daylight near the time of winter solstice.

I don't mind cold weather per se. I ride and go hiking and running all winter long in the mid-Atlantic area save for when it snows. But the lack of sunlight is what gets me down. My life has gotten so busy that I don't have time to feel depressed. But earlier in my life I used to struggle through the winter months emotionally.

It's no wonder that winter was a time of fear and dread among many northern peoples - especially those that spent time perpetually in the dark.

http://www.umaine.edu/counseling/sigmund/sad.htm

For some individuals, the declining light in the fall can usher in a form of a mood disorder that goes beyond simple winter blahs. This form of depression, known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects approximately 6 percent of the United States' population, with 14 percent experiencing SAD. The incidence of SAD is greater in Northern latitudes where the decrease in light is greater.

The key indicator for SAD is seasonality, with symptoms beginning sometime in the fall, as daylight decreases, and subsiding with the return of light in the springtime. However, some individuals experience depressive symptoms whenever there is a stretch of days which are cloudy or overcast.

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What I find depressing is going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Fortunately, we'll start getting more daylight soon.