After coming off of an ‘unusual April,’ experts say having the ‘winter blues’ during this cold, dreary spring is normal
Chicago TribuneMay 05, 2022
If Chicagoland has seemed more cloudy than usual compared with previous springs, it’s not your imagination. As a result, Chicagoans may have experienced ‘winter blues’ for an extended period of time.
“We are vulnerable to start to have ‘winter blues’ during the winter months, but some individuals have more severe symptoms that recur regularly during the winter months that may indicate seasonal affective disorder,” said Dr.
Cold temperatures and decreased sunlight can result in decreased motivation and access to stimulating activity and exercise, according to Fisher. If the negative feelings happen at the same time for consecutive years, there is a chance an individual has seasonal affective disorder.
“This spring in
Fisher said treatments such as light therapy and behavioral psychotherapy are possible solutions that can help alleviate negative feelings associated with dreary weather.
“In general, people should aim to get as much exposure to light as possible in the winter and maintain a regular schedule of activity rather than develop habits of staying in the home or socially isolating,” Fisher said.
Even though
“This April was very unusual,” according to
Wachowski, who retired from the
He said only 34% of possible sunlight occurred in
“So it tied for the second-lowest percentage of sunshine on record since the beginning of 1893,” Frank said.
The lowest sunlight percentage since the 1893 mark was 32% in 2011.
“The normal is 51%,” Wachowski said.
The reverse was in 1942 when there was 76% sunlight in April.
“Now we are in another spell of cloudiness,” Wachowski said. “We are starting May unfortunately on a cloudy note, but hopefully once we get this system out of the way in the next couple of days, we can get into a sunny, nice warm pattern and get back to reality.”
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