Limited exposure to sunlight and Vitamin D common during the winter months can trigger a subtype of depression called seasonal affective disorder, according to a statement from Northwestern Medicine psychiatrist Pedro Dago, who studies the effects of sunlight deprivation at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
“SAD is not just a case of the winter blues, but a serious problem for many people, and it can be treated,” he said.
Dago said treatments include sleeping more, eating healthily and exercising, and increasing exposure to sunlight, which might be tricky this month.
Wachowski also hypothesized that the temperature inversion — warm air below the clouds with cold air above them — could be contributing to the flu outbreak that’s sickened Chicagoans and especially CPS students in large numbers this season.
“There seems to be a correlation, because when you have temps in the teens, you kill all the viruses and germs. Here, we have more moisture in the air,” making it easier for germs to linger and spread, he said.
Weather patterns suggest that if any sunlight does peek out this month, it would be on Christmas Day, when a storm system might pass through Chicago, breaking up some of the cloud cover.
Still, Wachowski said it’s “quite conceivable” that December 2014 will break the record set in 1975. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
Article Appeared @http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20141222/downtown/gloomiest-december-ever-chicago-on-track-break-sunshine-shortage-record