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Spring Will Come …
By Brady Brown, Ashley Falls
Stick with me. I'll get back to the point. But, first, an interestingly analogy … I once read a pathetic account about a 12-year-old girl who was traumatized by a natural occurrence because she did not know the cause. Reared in a remote area by very strict parents, she was kept sheltered from the "outside world" and was lectured constantly by her self-taught preacher father about her sins and the retribution of an Old Testament God. Without having been forewarned, this young girl was devastated by her first onset of menses, thinking it to be God's punishment for sins that she may have committed. As I said: "pathetic."
Now, back to the point of this article … Over the past decades, I have experienced a case of the late-winter "blahs" commencing in late January. While I am not a trained psychologist, I am now beginning to understand that there are some natural causes for this apparently widespread phenomenon of seasonal changes affecting the human psyche.
I once worked with a TV weatherman who was academically interested in the effect of these seasonal changes on the emotions; he had collected hard data relating to the increased incidence of suicide, illness, divorce, child abuse, etc. that peaked in late January. Was it post-Christmas, post-New Year's depression? Bad weather? What?
Here in the Berkshires I've attributed my winter blues to the fact that I don't get outside as often for winter chores and exercise. For me, "mud season" has always been a bummer.
But I've heard of other natural causes for this widespread phenomenon. (Remember: I'm a layman, not a trained expert.) Some have said that it is caused by the lack of daylight hours. I've also read that it's attributed to the lack of beneficial rays from the sun. Recently, I learned of another interesting published theory, which blames it on our caveman genes. According to this theory, we have within us genes which dictate that we should take it easy during the weeks of darkness. However, with the advent of modern artificial light, we are up and active while our genes are dictating otherwise.
Weather, short days, lack of sun rays, lack of physical exercise, artificial light, the mud season. The point, of course, is to understand that there are natural causes for our seasonal depression, just as there were natural causes for that young girl's physical change. Knowledge helps! Spring will come …
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