Buckets of rain don’t have to mean sadness
No evidence linking seasonal affective disorder to cold weather, CMHA rep says
If you’re looking outside at the buzzkill rain clouds and feeling overwhelmed, you could be suffering from seasonal affective disorder.
Or not.
“A lot of people think (SAD) is way more common than it is,” said Sarah Hamid-Balma, a spokeswoman for the B.C. office of the Canadian Mental Health Association, as B.C. was hit Monday by the first prolonged rains of the season.
“Two to three per cent of Canadians are affected (by SAD) and another 15 per cent will get the winter blahs, so more than 80 per cent of us are doing OK at this time of year,” Hamid-Balma said.
OK, despite Mother Nature’s wet blanket.
It’s possible more than 100 millimetres of rain will fall by the end of the week from two storm systems. The first arrived Monday and the second is expected early Wednesday accompanied by high winds.
Temperatures in the B.C. Interior are also expected to drop Tuesday afternoon, turning some rain into flurries on some highway passes.
Hamid-Balma said SAD isn’t caused by grey skies and cold weather, but by the lack of light due to shorter days, which is why it’s more common in people living closer to the North Pole.
“It’s tempting to think the weather contributes to mood problems and mood disorders but there have been a number of studies and they found no evidence linking cold weather to an increase in clinically significant depression rates.”
And the dreary weather will only seem worse when the clocks fall back Nov. 5.
Shawn Bourgeault, owner of Davie Village Tanning Co. in Vancouver, said tanning salons can’t make medical claims to cure ailments, but “when you come in and you’re all damp and miserable and you lie down on the bed, it’s just nice. It’s the closest you can get to a holiday in the sun without getting sand in your drawers.”
He said the start of the rainy season is also the start of the busy season for tanning salons, as clients come in for some warmth or “pre-tanning” for vacations.
Dermatologists warn any exposure to UV rays increases the risk of skin cancer.
Travel agencies, too, usually experience an increase in business when the rains start.
“There’s no question that when the rainy weather settles in and there’s a forecast like this with several days of rain expected, we see an increase in inquiry,” said Allison Wallace of Flight Centre Travel Group on Monday.
For locals wanting a tropical experience closer to home, Queen Elizabeth Park’s Bloedel Conservatory “is always warm inside. We offer a tropical paradise and an indoor family attraction when it’s cold outside,” said Emily Schultz of the Vancouver park board.
The temperature is always in the 20s and more than 150 types of birds fly free in the domed structure, including macaws, parrots, finches, pheasants, cockatoos and canaries, she said. There are around 500 kinds of trees and plants.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac is forecasting that for “southern” B.C. (as far north as Prince George), the 2017-18 winter “will be slightly warmer than normal, with below-normal precipitation and snowfall.”
And if that’s not enough to lift your spirits, note that the shortest day of the year is in 66 days and the days start getting longer after that.