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Winter is coming

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Re: Winter is coming

#31

Post by VLM »

IanDrake wrote: post #25
euphemize wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny. I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking around town in a t-shirt is not winter.

It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.

Observationally I think there's a huge exercise component, in past centuries miners, textile/sweatshop workers, and assemblyline workers didn't seem to suffer.

Re: Winter is coming

#32

Post by robotmay »

I have a somewhat opposite problem; I can't work at all during the summer. I can't deal with heat well and can barely think straight if I get even slightly too warm. This summer in the UK was unbearable in my new flat, which appears to have been designed as the most effective greenhouse in the world.

I always look forward to autumn and winter. I get to wear clothes I like, nobody's outside as they're all whinging about the rain, and I feel a sort of melancholy bliss when I'm sat indoors whilst it's raining. It's one of the main reasons why I still live in Wales rather than somewhere like SF.

Re: Winter is coming

#33

Post by AhtiK »

joshkaufman wrote: post #28
AhtiK wrote: post #22

Does anyone have experience with either Philips goLITE [1] or Wake-Up light [2]? I wonder which of these will be more effective (blue vs warm yellow). Alternatively, has anyone managed to build such a device at home? AFAIK 470 nm wavelength LEDs are the way to go but getting 10k lux out of the grid.. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU-Therapy-Device/dp/B... [2] http://www.amazon.com/Philips-HF3520-Wake-Up-C…

I have the Philips goLITE, and highly recommend it. The blue wavelength makes a noticeable difference. It runs off of a rechargeable battery, which is very handy if you move around the house/office in the morning. It's also small enough to use as a travel alarm clock, and I've found using it makes it much easier to shift time zones.

Thank you.

How well does it fit into your morning routine? Do you have to stare straight to the goLITE right after waking up or would it work just by keeping it next to the breakfast table or next to the bed?

Re: Winter is coming

#34

Post by revelation »

jdmitch wrote: post #3

Does taking vitamin D3 supplements really work for the OP? There have been a number of HN posts about how the vitamin fad started by Linus Pauling has not been backed up scientifically, such as this one: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitami... but maybe there is more to it when it comes to SAD...

A multivitamin is not taking D3 supplements. Gwern has a short excerpt on the topic:

http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#vitamin-d

Re: Winter is coming

#35

Post by Pxtl »

IanDrake wrote: post #25
euphemize wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will have to agree here. As someone who's working from Canada, this post is semi-funny. I've worked from SF October to January, and let me tell you that biking around town in a t-shirt is not winter.

It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.

Remember that the days are even shorter in Canadian winter, too.

SF's shortest day of the year is 9.4 hours long. Toronto's shortest day is 8.7 hours long, and Toronto is one of Canada's southern-most cities. Montreal and Quebec City have it worse, but those poor damned Calgarians take the cake with only 7.7 hours of daylight on Christmas.

Only about 45 minutes difference from SF here in Hamilton, but still, it's that much closer to being completely eclipsed by the 8-hour workday.

Re: Winter is coming

#36

Post by DanBC »

jdmitch wrote: post #3

Does taking vitamin D3 supplements really work for the OP? There have been a number of HN posts about how the vitamin fad started by Linus Pauling has not been backed up scientifically, such as this one: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitami... but maybe there is more to it when it comes to SAD...

Supplementing vitamin D is recommended by a few calm agencies and is reasonably sensible. Especially if you don't get much sun. UK children under 5 are recommended to take a multivitamin of A, C and D.

We're at the frustrating stage of having credible methods of action, but weak evidence for efficacy, for some vitamin interventions.

(http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008873/vitamin-d-supplementa...)

> The number of trials and outcomes reported are too limited, and in general are of low quality, to draw conclusions on the usefulness and safety of this intervention as a part of routine antenatal care. Further rigorous randomised trials are required to evaluate the role of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy.

Re: Winter is coming

#37

Post by johndl »

I've experienced this too, not just in winter.

I live in Scotland, and the weather is mostly wet and damp (rain on ~2 out of 3 days of the year). This year we had a glorious summer. I got productive work done in a single month in June than the entire first 5 months of the year.

Re: Winter is coming

#38

Post by xwowsersx »

robotmay wrote: post #32

I have a somewhat opposite problem; I can't work at all during the summer. I can't deal with heat well and can barely think straight if I get even slightly too warm. This summer in the UK was unbearable in my new flat, which appears to have been designed as the most effective greenhouse in the world. I always look forward to autumn and winter. I get to wear clothes I like, nobody's outside as they're all whinging abo…

Hehe, totally hear that. You remind me of these hilarious tweets: https://twitter.com/SoVeryBritish/

Re: Winter is coming

#39

Post by jwn »

fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Why does it really matter if it's NY, SF, or anything in between? His SAD is due to a lack of sunlight and not cold temperatures. It also affects some people much more than others. I seem immune to it and don't miss daylight a bit during the winter months, while my wife must have a lamp for 15 minutes a day or else depression starts to set in.

Re: Winter is coming

#40

Post by Pxtl »

VLM wrote: post #26

On a side tangent resulting in similar (edited: milder) symptoms, for decades I've noticed the typical westerner calendar is extremely lopsided. June thru December is one holiday per month if not more, where you can take a vacation and not stress about whats going on back at work, in comparison the other half of the year January thru June has ... basically no time off. Oh you can take a vacation day, you'll just have…

What about Good Friday (and the gov't holiday of Easter Monday if you're in that field)? Anyhow, to counter this we get a day in February called "Family Day" here in Ontario - one of the much-maligned Ontario Liberal Party's better ideas.
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