The matter in summary: • Many young people, especially students, struggle with sleep problems in the winter months due to exam stress and fewer hours of sunlight.• Light is important for sleep, as it regulates the circadian rhythm and affects the production of vitamin D and melatonin. Using daylight lamps can be a solution.• Good routines, including regular bedtimes and wake-up times, are essential for good sleep hygiene.• Procrastination can lead to stress and negatively affect sleep quality. It is important not to postpone tasks.• Physical activity can improve sleep quality, but it is best to avoid exercise right before bed.• It is important to limit the use of the bed for sleep and sex to improve sleep quality. Alcohol, caffeine, snuff, smoke and screen use in bed can disrupt sleep. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – I am very excited about how it will go, says Tonje Wilhelmsen Sveen (21). Sveen is from Lillehammer and is spending his first winter in Bodø. Recently, she has struggled a bit with sleeping. And she’s not the only one. According to the Students’ health and well-being survey for 2022, 33 per cent of students have sleep problems. The exam, stress and fewer hours in the sun have disturbed her sleep. In Lillehammer, the number of hours of daylight is far more than in Bodø at this time of year ☀️ But does that matter? Yes, of course, says psychologist and professor of clinical psychology Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang. But what is good sleep and how can you get it? 😴 The animal care student is one of several seeking the answer to that. – I’ve had some problems sleeping, so I thought it might be interesting to sign up, says Tonje, who has signed up for a sleep course at Nord University 💤 The sleep course is organized by Studentinord and was streamed from an auditorium at Nord University in Bodø to the study sites Mo i Rana and Levanger. Photo: Marie Staberg / news Although it can be both difficult and demanding to have good sleep hygiene, it is not impossible. Preventive advice 1. Seek light Travel to the South and get some sun. If you do not have the opportunity to do this, you can consider treatment with artificial daylight. Half an hour in front of a light bulb every day for two weeks can be enough for the whole winter. Remember to consult a doctor. Solarium has no effect. 2. Light up the surroundings Pull down the curtains and turn up the lights at work. Go for a walk outside during the day. Light up your home. 3. Charge your batteries Prepare for the dark hours by getting plenty of light in the summer and autumn. It can be preventive and make you much better equipped to face the winter. 4. Sleep well Sleep and a good circadian rhythm are important for your mental state. Regular disturbances in your biological clock can quickly lead to poorer sleep and fatigue. 5. Get moving It has been shown that exercise and exercise in general have a positive effect on depression. Create good routines Student doctors Marlene Mellum and Markus Berntsen are two of four final year students at UiT Norway’s Arctic University who work as GPs for the students in Bodø. Student doctors Markus Berntsen (24) and Marlene Mellum (29) give good advice on how to sleep well. – A lot happens in their bodies, which can explain sleep difficulties and which can make it more difficult to create a stable circadian rhythm. That’s what student doctor Markus Berntsen (24) says, who together with his colleague Marlene Mellum (29) will give the assembly good advice on how to sleep well. Marlene Mellum advises students to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, also at weekends ⏰ “What if you go to bed three hours later than you normally do, when should you get up?” asks one of the students. Marlene Mellum advises students to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, also at weekends. – Maybe you shouldn’t go to bed three hours later than you normally do, but sometimes you go to bed, says Mellum and continues: – But if this becomes a pattern over time, and you see that you struggle to sleep on weekdays because you is out every weekend, it could be a problem. But if you sleep until eleven one day, there is no problem. The trick is to create good routines that you can live with. Get as much light as possible! Many people may experience a change in mood and energy at this time of year. Light is linked to happiness and sleep, and provides us with important vitamin D. When the hours of sunlight become fewer, we get less vitamin D and the brain produces more of the hormone melatonin, which can make us sleepy. Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang says that those of us who live with dark times are no more depressed than others. Photo: Mona Ødegård – The body needs to conserve energy, as all animals and plants do in winter, when it is cold and there is less sun, says the psychologist. The absence of sunlight can trigger depression-like feelings and fatigue, but this is completely normal, emphasizes Wang. Light regulates the circadian rhythm and affects the body’s biological clock. Just as it can be difficult to sleep in the summer when it is light, it can be difficult to get up when it is dark. – Light is obviously important. It affects both vitamin D and melatonin, which is extremely important in relation to sleep. Use a daylight lamp Animal care student Tonje is one of many who have invested in a daylight lamp. A daylight lamp can help in the dark. Photo: Hedda Rumohr Berge / news – I set the time when I want to wake up and then it gradually lights up the room and I think that works well, says Tonje. And it is not without reason. The lamps work in such a way that they have a strong light intensity, which should try to imitate the daylight we get during the day. Professor emeritus in health psychology at the University of Oslo, Arne Holte believes that daylight lamps are underestimated. Around 30 to 45 minutes in front of one like this every day should help, but the need varies greatly. – The effect is related to the light intensity, but you don’t need to have anything more than 10,000 lux for effect, he says. Don’t put things off Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang has, among other things, researched procrastination and depression. – It is a common human phenomenon, but students do even more of it. And part of the reason for that is that everyday study life is unstructured. And that can cause problems. A recent study from York University in England shows that quality sleep makes us more resistant to anxiety and depression. Photo: COLOURBOX / COLOURBOX If you fall out of your routine and don’t achieve the goals you set, it will affect your self-esteem. And then it is easy to get into a negative spiral. One must therefore not give in to all temptations, advises the psychologist. Procrastination can lead to stress and worry about things you should have done. And the stress can negatively affect the quality of sleep. How do you sleep? Very bad 😪 I sleep like a rock 😴 It varies a bit 🤷 ♂️ Show result Eat healthy and varied A diet of healthy small meals throughout the day, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, will be able to give good energy and reduce mood swings. – That also has something to say, says Arne Holte. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB The symptoms of winter depression can make you crave sugary food more. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are a better choice to help with depression. This is because foods such as oatmeal, wholemeal bread, brown rice and bananas can increase sensitive serotonin levels. Be active🏃♀️ Moving and performing physical activity regularly can increase serotonin and endorphin levels. – Physical activity is one of our best antidepressants. It is a very underrated antidepressant, but it is one of our best. Activity is at the heart of many good things, and it also makes you sleep better, but: Student doctor Markus Berntsen gives good advice on how to sleep well. Photo: Marie Staberg / news – The later you train, the more difficult it is to sleep, says Markus Berntsen. The adrenaline and endorphins that are activated can make it difficult to sleep. Therefore, try to exercise well in advance of going to bed, preferably as early in the day as possible. Don’t stay in bed – There are two things you should do in bed: sleep and have sex. Beyond that, no other things, says Mellum. Wang says that if you ensure good sleep, activity and daylight, much has been done to prevent depression. Photo: Vasiliy Koval Things you should think about before going to bed: Alcohol, caffeine and snuff and smoke cause poorer sleep Reduce screen use in bed 📵 If you eat late at night your blood sugar rises and the body has to work to digest it Calm down and prepare for bedtime Winter depression Seasonal mood disorder or winter depression is a mental disorder that typically appears in the dark. In English, the condition is abbreviated to SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Some researchers consider it a type of depression, while others believe there is no reason to use the medical term depression. Milder forms of winter depression can therefore also be termed winter fatigue or winter discomfort. It is believed that 5 to 10 percent of the population suffers from winter depression to a greater or lesser extent. Causes There is no exact answer as to why some people feel extra down and tired in winter. But it is believed that lack of light is the main cause of winter depression. Light regulates the circadian rhythm and affects the body’s biological clock, which determines when to sleep or be awake. The light-sensitive hormone melatonin is related to sleep and plays an important role in regulating the circadian rhythm. The brain secretes melatonin at night, and during the longer winter nights even more melatonin is secreted. Increased production of melatonin can disrupt the circadian rhythm and make us more tired. The signaling substance serotonin is found naturally in the brain and helps send nerve impulses between nerve cells. Serotonin is known to influence human mood. When daylight passes through the eyes and hits the retina, the production of serotonin is stimulated. Production is significantly lower in winter when it is dark for large parts of the day. The light conditions affect the production of both melatonin and serotonin. The absence of sunlight can trigger depression-like feelings and fatigue. Treatment The condition is not an official medical diagnosis. But you should consider seeing a doctor or psychologist if you feel depressed for a long time for no reason and are not motivated to do activities you normally enjoy. Winter depression is defined as recurrent depressive episodes with onset and improvement at approximately the same time for at least 3 years. The medical history should also not be dominated by depressive episodes at other times of the year. Since it has been proven that more daylight helps sleep balance and mood, light therapy is the first choice for winter depression. Light therapy can be combined with drugs and psychotherapy. Source: Norwegian Health Information Technology
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Darkness and winter depression – here are the tips – news Nordland
