After the snow finally stopped here in Slinger, Wisconsin, we had a total of 7 or 8 inches of the very wet stuff. This morning, the sun came out and the skies were blue. I opened the door to let my dog, Hank, outside. When I opened the back door, I couldn’t see the outside through the frozen ice that was on the door. I figured because the skies were so clear, that the temperature was pretty cold. The temperature was cold all right-it was 2 degrees above zero with a wind chill.
Before I let Hank out, I put his coat on. He doesn’t like the coat, but I think he was happy to have it on this morning. Two degrees was pretty cold, but at least the sun was shining. The sun was shining……my dog and I were both happy. There are a lot of people that get depressed when the sun isn’t shining, especially during the winter.
Today at a meeting, someone made a joke about being sad or having mood problems during the winter especially when it snows. This is nothing to joke about. Someone’s feelings, especially really sad feelings, are not funny. These sad feelings happen when it is cloudy, raining, or snowing and cause problems for a lot of people. If it is a problem, there should be a way to help it. Well, there is!
For people who have this type of sadness or mood swing, there is a treatment. You can go to a tanning salon and lay in a tanning bed, starting out a few minutes every other day for a couple of weeks. Then, you can increase your time every other day, or start using the tanning bed a few minutes every day. Whatever you decide, you need to be careful about exposing your skin to ultraviolet light and heat. The salon will have safety glasses for you to wear. You should also wear sunscreen to make sure your skin doesn’t get over-exposed, or sunburned.
Tanning during the winter will help if you are prone to weather-related mood problems. Sometimes, people that work at night have mood problems as well. Some people that work nights and sleep during the day have problems because they don’t see daylight. They sleep during the day when it is light. Darkness tends to cause feelings of sadness and/or severe mood swings. The tanning bed will also help these individuals.
If you or anyone you know has a problem like this, don’t hesitate to give them this information. There should be a tanning salon in just about every community. If there isn’t a salon in your area, you can try using a sun lamp. You have to be very careful not to over-expose your skin, because there are no safety stops like tanning beds have. You can set a timer to expose your skin for 2-3 minutes every day or every other day, depending on the severity of your bad mood.
These are treatments you can try that might help with these feelings. If these feeling persist, even with the treatment, my recommendation is to seek professional help. Your doctor will be able to help you with medication.
If I can help in any way, please don’t hesitate to comment and leave your contact information. I will contact you.
