Inversion Aggravates SAD Problems

Symptoms & More Info

Jan. 2, 2001- Salt Lake's inversion not only aggravates the lungs, but the mind as well.

Psychiatrists say these sunless days are becoming especially hard on people diagnosed with what is called "Seasonal Affective Disorder," or SAD.

More on the story from Science Specialist Ed Yeates.

Look around these days and you won't see many people smiling! That's because this grayish-yellow, almost surreal, smoggy environment can make all of us feel a bit down.

But there are some people who suffer a lot more in this stuff. They have a condition called "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or SAD.

In some cases, the depression becomes so bad, a person can become suicidal.

Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Christensen says smog blocking out the sunshine in what are already shorter days, produces a biological/psychological condition in humans similar to a hybernating bear. They often become lethargic, sluggish and don't have much enthusiasm.

DANIEL CHRISTENSEN, M.D., UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PSYCHIATRIST: "THEY WANT TO SLEEP MORE AND THEY'LL USUALLY GAIN WEIGHT. OFTEN PEOPLE WITH THIS DISORDER CAN TELL THAT THEIR APPETITE HAS GONE UP. THEY BEGIN CRAVING CARBOHYRATES AND BEFORE THEY KNOW IT, THEY HAVE ANOTHER TEN POUNDS THAT THEY'RE LUGGING AROUND, MUCH LIKE A BEAR THAT IS GETTING READY TO CRAWL INTO A HOLE FOR WINTER."

Many people driving up the canyons these days are not skiing or snowboarding, but simply trying to get out of the valley's lake of pollution.

ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "LESS THAN TEN MINUTES FROM THE VALLEY AND WE'RE OUT OF THE STUFF. UP HERE, THE SKY IS BLUE, THE SUN IS SHINING, IT'S WARM. YOU DON'T EVEN NEED AN OVERCOAT. PSYCHCOLOGICALLY, IT FEELS GREAT."

That's why under blue skies, people like Jim Witucki come up here simply to walk.

JIM WITUCKI, VALLEY RESIDENT: "THIS IS MARVELOUS. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL IN THE SUN AND SO DREADFULLY, DULL, DOWN BELOW - LAUGHS"

"I DRIVE UP HERE TO WHERE I SEE THE SUN AND THEN AS SOON AS I SEEN THE SUN I STOP MY CAR AND TAKE A WALK."

Dr. Christensen says artificial light therapy also helps. This is where a person whose body clock is out of adjustment or who is deprived of sunlight sits at regular intervals in front of a specially designed artificial light in their home.

The artificial lights work best in the morning as the user gets up to start his or her day.

Symptoms Include:

• regularly occurring symptoms of depression (excessive eating and sleeping, weight gain) during the fall or winter months.

• full remission from depression occur in the spring and summer months.

• symptoms have occurred in the past two years, with no nonseasonal depression episodes.

• seasonal episodes substantially outnumber nonseasonal depression episodes.

• a craving for sugary and/or starchy foods.